r/EverythingScience • u/WilliamBlack97AI • Jul 08 '23

Medicine Scientists make common pain killers from pine trees instead of crude oil

https://www.bath.ac.uk/announcements/scientists-make-common-pain-killers-from-pine-trees-instead-of-crude-oil/
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u/Free_Return_2358 Jul 08 '23

Native Americans who already did…

17

u/carlos_6m MD Jul 08 '23

Youre getting confused with aspirin, which comes from willow bark, which was used by native American but also much earlier, it wad already used in ancient Egypt and in the middle ages it was a staple medication... Ibuprofen was invented in the 60s and paracetamol by the end of the 1800s

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u/[deleted] Jul 08 '23

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u/carlos_6m MD Jul 09 '23

You can get salicilic acid from willow bark, and turn it into ASA, this is how aspirin was discovered, thats what i was meaning

Its not produced from willow bark because its a massively inefficient process compared to using benzene