Salvarsan 606

Since about 1970 there has been very little activity in the whole field of aryl-element chemistry as fas as arenediazonium ions are involved. The activity on As- and Sb-organic compounds early in this century was probably stimulated by the discovery of Salvarsan (3,3 -diamino-4-4 -dihydroxy-arsenobenzene) by Paul Ehrlich in 1909. In spite of the epoch-making success of this first chemotherapeutic drug, it... 

A textbook error of the structure RAs = AsR of salvarsan, asphenamine, Ehrlich 606 [78] has been revised. The main component has a structure of a five-membered As ring (8) [79], which is favored by the pentagon stability. 

Although the element is a metalloid, the long, brittle, crystals have a metallic shine. The white, tasteless oxide (arsenic trioxide As203) has been famous and notorious ("inheritance powder") even after centuries traces can be found in bodies. The arsenic compound "Salvarsan" was first used by Paul Ehrlich for the treatment of syphilis — the start of chemotherapy. Popular today as a semiconducting material. Component of LEDs (light-emitting diodes) and lasers. Arsenic hardens lead, used earlier in letter-press printing, today only for lead shot. 

Another organic compound of arsenic that is of historical significance was discovered in 1901 by P. Ehrlich. That compound is known as arsphenamine or Salvarsan, which has the structure... 

This compound was found to be effective in treating syphilis and African sleeping sickness, although more effective drugs soon became available. In addition to the name Salvarsan, this compound is listed in the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics as "606" to denote where it fell in the series of compounds tested by Ehrlich and his collaborators. 

If the p-hydroxy-compound, obtained by boiling diazotised arsanilic acid with water, is nitrated, and the nitro-group so introduced is reduced to the amino-group, further reduction yields the corresponding arseno-compound, salvarsan. (Formulate these reactions )... 

Arsphenamin was the first drug substance with thermotropic mesomorphism [19] to be used therapeutically as Salvarsan during the first half of the 19th century. This drug is effective against microorganisms and offered for the first time a therapy for venereal diseases. Today it has been replaced by antibiotics with less serious side effects. 

Following the discovery of arsphenamine (Salvarsan) in Germany in 1907, it was imported into the United Kingdom until the beginning of World War 1, when the Board of Trade issued licences to certain British manufacturers... 

Prior to the 1940s almost all pharmacotherapy conducted by physicians is merely the alleviation of symptoms of disease and causal treatment consisted mostly of surgical interventions. It is only that after the development of antiparasitic agents and an-tiinfectives, like salvarsan and later penicillin, that causal treatment was known and that the understanding was induced that if possible, a disease should be treated at its root (causal treatment) in favor of symptomatically. This created the insight that causal treatment bears more weight compared to symptomatic treatment. 

A) Ehrlich discovering the drug salvarsan for the treatment of syphilis... 

A. Ehrlich called salvarsan the magic bullet for its nontoxic effect to humans and to its toxicity against the organism responsible for syphilis. 

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