Arthur Eichengrün (13 August 1867 – 23 December 1949) was a German Jewish chemist, materials scientist, and inventor. He is known for developing the highly successful anti-gonorrhea drug Protargol, the standard treatment for 50 years until the adoption of antibiotics, and for his pioneering contributions in plastics: co-developing (with Theodore Becker) the first soluble cellulose acetate materials in 1903, called "Cellit", and creating processes for the manufacture of these materials which were influential in the development of injection moulding. During World War I his relatively non-flammable synthetic cellulose acetate lacquers, marketed under the name "Cellon", were important in the aircraft industry. He contributed to photochemistry by inventing the first process for the production and development of cellulose acetate film, which he patented with Becker.

Eichengrün claimed to have directed the initial synthesis of aspirin in 1897, but his claim has been disputed by Bayer. For many years Bayer credited Felix Hoffmann, Eichengrün's junior, with the invention of aspirin. However, according to some historians the first attribution of the discovery to Hoffmann appears in 1934, and may have reflected anti-Jewish revisionism. Nonetheless, Bayer has denied these claims indicating that Hoffman already figured as the inventor in the American patent of aspirin filed in 1899.

Eichengrün's account was largely ignored by historians and chemists until 1999, when Walter Sneader of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow re-examined the case and came to the conclusion that indeed Eichengrün's account was convincing and correct and that Eichengrün deserved credit for the invention of aspirin. Bayer denied this in a press release, asserting that the invention of aspirin was due to Hoffmann.

;Evidence supporting Eichengrün's claims to the invention

Walter Sneader based his claims that Eichengrün both invented the process for synthesizing aspirin and oversaw its clinical testing on old and newly released archived materials, including letters, patents, and lab work. He found that Hoffmann was not credited with inventing the process for synthesizing Aspirin in any documents prior to 1934, 37 years after its initial synthesis. Further he found reason to doubt the footnote's credibility, not just for being published during the "Aryanization" period of Nazi Germany, but for its inaccurate claims about the testing of salicylic acid derivates other than acetyl ester. The vague reference did not specify which derivatives were tested, but claimed they had been discovered earlier but had been synthesized for "other purposes". No indication was given of what the others were, but in 1899 Heinrich Dreser, head of the experimental pharmacology laboratory at Elberfeld, named them in a publication as propionyl, butyryl, valeryl, and benzoyl salicylic acids. He further alluded to these derivatives in 1907 and again in 1918. However, the assertion that these salicylic acid derivates had been synthesized for non-therapeutic reasons is demonstrably false. Hoffmann's colleague Otto Bonhoeffer (who also worked under Eichengrün) had been awarded a US and UK patent in 1900 for several of these compounds. The patents indicate that the derivatives were prepared for the exact purpose of finding a salicylic acid derivative with therapeutic value. Sneader concluded that because of this error the 1934 footnote is unreliable.

However Bayer dismissed Sneader claims asserting Hoffman invention of the Aspirin. According to Bayer, Hoffmann and Eichengrün were colleagues of equal standing at Bayer, not in a hierarchical relationship. This undermines Sneader's claim that Hoffmann worked under Eichengrün's direction. Numerous documents, including Hoffmann's laboratory journal entry from August 10, 1897, explicitly record his synthesis of ASA, providing clear evidence of his role in this pivotal discovery. Additionally, Hoffmann is recognized as the inventor in the American patent for ASA, filed in 1899. Notably, Eichengrün never contested this acknowledgment during his tenure at Bayer, further solidifying Hoffmann’s claim to the invention. Eichengrün’s assertions lack timely credibility, as he did not claim credit for the synthesis until 1949—more than 50 years after Hoffmann's documented work. This delay raises questions about the validity of his late claims to authorship. Furthermore, the narrative suggesting that Eichengrün's Jewish background led to the suppression of his contributions lacks substantive evidence. Throughout his career, Eichengrün was a successful inventor with numerous patents and never demanded recognition for ASA during his time at Bayer.

Plastics

In 1903, Eichengrün co-developed the first soluble form of cellulose acetate with Theodore Becker. He developed processes for the manufacture of cellulose acetate materials and devoted the rest of his life to the technical and economic development of plastics, lacquers, enamels, and artificial fibers based on cellulose acetate. During World War I his relatively non-inflammable synthetic cellulose acetate lacquers were important in the aircraft industry. He also pioneered the influential technique of injection moulding. In 1904, he created and patented the first safety film with Becker, (cellulose diacetate) from a process they devised in 1901 for the direct acetylation of cellulose at a low temperature to prevent its degradation, which permitted the degree of acetylation to be controlled, thereby avoiding total conversion to its triacetate. Cellit was a stable, non-brittle cellulose acetate polymer that could be dissolved in acetone for further processing. It was used to manufacture cellulose diacetate cinematographic film, which Eastman Kodak and the Pathé Frères began to use in 1909. Cellulose acetate film became the standard in the 1950s, preferred over the highly flammable and unstable film stock produced from Nitrocellulose.

References

  • Arthur Eichengrün in the Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  • Sneader's paper crediting Eichengrün with the invention of aspirin in the British Medical Journal.
  • Wer hat es erfunden? (Who invented it?)