Suramin Discovery

Suramin, which was used against trypanosomes, was developed by Paul Ehrlich. It is one of the first drugs to be developed by the discovery method. 

Suramin (refer to Box 3.1, where the structure of this compound is shown), which was used against trypanosomes, was developed by Paul Ehrlich. It was one of the first drugs to be developed by the discovery method to cure a specific ailment. Suramin is a derivative (a variation) of a fabric dye that was found to have antiparasitical activity, (a) Would you expect suramin to undergo delocalization of electrons ... 

All these discoveries were made by pursuing clues which Ehrlich and his school had revealed. Indicative of the impact that chemotherapy was now making was the German State s ban on any disclosure of the constitution of suramin and mepacrine, because of the potential they lent to tropical warfare. This was a complete swing of the pendulum from the State s apathy in 1899. (Parenthetically, the secrecy was short-lived the synthesis of suramin was solved by Fourneau et al, in 1924 at the Pasteur Institute in Paris Maghidson and Grigorovski, in Moscow, published that of mepacrine in 1933.)... 

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