Spiric acid

Hoffman s acetylsalicylic acid competed with the other salicylate compounds after its initial synthesis. In 1899 Hoffman s employer, the Bayer Company, founded in 1861 by Friedrich Bayer (1825-1880), began to market acetylsalicylic acid under the name Aspirin. The term aspirin was derived by combining the letter a from acetyl and spirin from spiric acid. Spiric acid is another name for salicylic acid found in plants of the genus Spirea. Bayer pro-... 

Salicylic acid (also called spiric acid, hence the name aspirin [ a for acetyl]) in extracts from the bark of the willow tree or from the meadowsweet plant had been used since ancient times (see Chapter 16 Opening) to treat pain, fever, and swelling. This acid was first isolated in pure... 

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