Arsphenamine, also known under its trade nameSalvarsan, is a drug that was used to treat syphilis. It was the first modern chemotheraputic agent. Paul Ehrlich, in his search for a magic bullet that would attack a disease-causing agent, and leave humantissue untouched, found this drug (the 606th he tested) in 1909. The structure is:
It was the first important antisyphillitic, though was phased out in the 1930s by better arsenical compounds (neoarsphenamine), and eventually altogether by penicillin.
Salvarsan (arsephenamine, Ehrlich 606) and its derivative, neosalvarsan (neoarsephenamine, Ehrlich 914) were first administered by injection: "If either injection was not entirely within the vein severe local pain resulted" (Benedek 6).
Salvarsan, even when administered properly, often caused necrosis (tissue death) or thrombophlebitis (a blood clot that causes the vein to swell and become irritated; may lead to infection) at the site of injection.
Pulsford warned that an ordinary dose of salvarsan contained more than the lethal quantity of arsenic, and that the drug had to be prepared and administered with caution in order to prevent fatalities.
Sahachiro Hata found this compound in 1908 while studying in the laboratory of Paul Ehrlich, during a survey of thousands of compounds (derivates of the drug atoxyl) in search of anti-spirochete activity (the bacterium that causes syphilis is a spirochete).
This compound was marketed under the trade nameSalvarsan in 1910.
The Composition of Ehrlich's Salvarsan: Resolution of a Century-Old Debate Angewandte Chemie 117 (6), 963-966.
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