9️⃣Who Was the First to Synthesize Methamphetamine?

Methamphetamine (N-methylamphetamine, N,α-dimethylphenethylamine, (S)-N-methyl-1-phenyl-propane-2-amine—also called meth, crank, crystal meth, speed, etc.) [1]

Who?

Nagayoshi Nagai (長井長義) (1844–1929)

When?

1893

How?

From ephedrine by reduction [2]. Nagayoshi Nagai isolated ephedrine, a natural stimulant, from the Chinese Ephedra sinica plant and later developed a method for ephedrine synthesis.

Figure 1. Reduction of ephedrine.

Very Short History of Methamphetamine

Nagayoshi Nagai first synthesized methamphetamine in liquid form in 1893. Akira Ogata (1887–1978) later crystallized methamphetamine in pure form for the first time in 1919 via reduction of ephedrine using red phosphorus and iodine. In 1921, the substance was patented and marketed by the pharmaceutical company Dainippon Seiyaku under the brand name Philopon (ヒロポン, Hiropon). The name probably comes from the Japanese words for “fatigue” (hirō) and “with a single blow” (pon), meaning “fatigue disappears instantly,” or from the Greek *philoponus* (“fond of work”).

Beginning in 1934, researchers at the Berlin-based Temmler-Werke in Germany developed a new method for producing methamphetamine, which was patented in October 1937. In 1938, the substance was marketed by Temmler under the brand name Pervitin. Pervitin remained on the market until 1988; today a medical use is no longer possible in Germany. In the United States, methamphetamine hydrochloride is sold under the brand name Desoxyn.

Methamphetamine is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system, increasing dopamine levels in the brain. N-methylamphetamine suppresses fatigue, hunger, and pain, while briefly increasing confidence, strength, and a sense of increased energy. Side effects include personality changes, psychosis, and paranoia, especially with sleep deprivation or predisposition.

Nagayoshi Nagai

Nagayoshi Nagai, the son of a doctor, began studying Western medicine (rangaku medicine) in 1864 at the Dutch Medical School in Nagasaki, Japan, the predecessor of Nagasaki University’s Faculty of Medicine. He later continued his studies at the University of Tokyo, Japan, where he became the first person in Japan to earn a Ph.D. in pharmacy.

In 1871, with government funding as part of the first group of students to study in Europe, he traveled to Prussia to study at the University of Berlin. There, he earned a Ph.D. with a thesis on eugenol while working as an assistant in August Wilhelm von Hofmann’s laboratory. Nagayoshi Nagai returned to the University of Tokyo in 1884 and became a professor of chemistry and pharmacy in 1893, focusing his research on the chemical analysis of traditional Japanese and Chinese herbal medicines. Later he became Director of the Tokyo Laboratory of the Public Health Bureau, and Technical Director at Dai-Nippon Pharmaceutical Company [3]. Among the main products of the company which was established in 1885 was ephedrine, an anti-asthma drug invented by Nagai.