
When was Prontosil first used?
The molecule was tested and in the late autumn of 1932 was found effective against some important bacterial infections in mice by Gerhard Domagk, who subsequently received the 1939 Nobel Prize in Medicine. Prontosil was the result of five years of testing involving thousands of compounds related to azo dyes .
When did Domagk discover Prontosil?
Gerhard Domagk discovered Prontosil could kill streptococcus in 1932. How did Domagk test Prontosil? In 1935, Gerhard Domagk used Prontosil to cure his daughter of infection. Who discovered Prontosil? Gerhard Domagk was a German scientist who discovered that Prontosil could be used as a magic bullet against bacteria that caused infection.
What is Prontosil (sulphonamido-chrysoidin)?
See text for details. Prontosil, or sulphonamido-chrysoidin, was first synthesized by Klarer and Mietzsch in 1932, and was one of a series of azo dyes examined by Domagk for possible effects on haemolytic streptococcal infection.
Did IG Farben invent Prontosil?
This has been suggested that IG Farben achieved its breakthrough discovery with sulfanilamide in 1932, however, devoted the very next 3 years to inventing Prontosil as just a new, and hence more readily patentable, molecule after realising that this would not be patented as an antibiotic.

Who developed prontosil?
Prontosil, or sulphonamido-chrysoidin, was first synthesized by Klarer and Mietzsch in 1932, and was one of a series of azo dyes examined by Domagk for possible effects on haemolytic streptococcal infection.
Who discovered the antibiotic properties of prontosil in the 1930s?
Prontosil was introduced into medicine in the 1930s. Prontosil resulted from research, directed by German chemist and pathologist Gerhard Domagk, on the antibacterial action of azo dyes. A red azo dye of low toxicity, Prontosil was shown by Domagk to prevent mortality in mice infected with Streptococcus bacteria.
How did Domagk discover prontosil?
The Discovery of Prontosil Among the hundreds of chemical compounds prepared by Mietzsch and Klarer for Domagk to test were some related to the azo dyes. They had the characteristic -N=N- coupling of azo dyes, but one of the hydrogens attached to nitrogen had been replaced by a sulfonamide group.
Who discovered sulfonamides?
Gerhard DomagkIn 1935, Gerhard Domagk discovered the first sulphonamide--prontosil rubrum. Four years later he received the Noble Prize.
When was prontosil invented?
Prontosil, or sulphonamido-chrysoidin, was first synthesized by Klarer and Mietzsch in 1932, and was one of a series of azo dyes examined by Domagk for possible effects on haemolytic streptococcal infection.
Who really discovered penicillin?
Alexander FlemingPenicillin / InventorBut it was not until 1928 that penicillin, the first true antibiotic, was discovered by Alexander Fleming, Professor of Bacteriology at St. Mary's Hospital in London.
Who is father of chemotherapy?
Paul EhrlichPaul Ehrlich: Nobel laureate and father of modern chemotherapy.
What did domagk discover?
The challenge was long thought to be impossible, but in 1932 Gerhard Domagk and his colleagues demonstrated in mice experiments that sulfonamides could be used to counteract bacteria that cause blood poisoning. The discovery became the basis for a number of sulfa drugs—the first type of antibiotic.
How do you pronounce domagk?
0:000:42Domagk, Gerhard - Medical Meaning and Pronunciation - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipDoh mock Gerhard Doh mock Gerhart German physician and chemist 1895 to 1946 who discovered the firstMoreDoh mock Gerhard Doh mock Gerhart German physician and chemist 1895 to 1946 who discovered the first sulfa drug pronto sill which I sure din the era of antibacterial.
How was sulfanilamide discovered?
The scientific path of discovery for this miracle drug began in 1908 when a grad student prepared the molecule. It was incorporated into the literature of dye chemistry. Domagk that showed that a combination of a dye and sulfanilamide was antimicrobial.
What was the first drug to be discovered?
The first synthetic drug, chloral hydrate, was discovered in 1869 and introduced as a sedative-hypnotic; it is still available today in some countries.
When was sulfanilamide introduced?
History. Sulfanilamide was first prepared in 1908 by the Austrian chemist Paul Josef Jakob Gelmo (1879–1961) as part of his dissertation for a doctoral degree from the Technische Hochschule of Vienna. It was patented in 1909.
How was prontosil made?
Prontosil was the result of five years of testing involving thousands of compounds related to azo dyes. The crucial test result (in a murine model of Streptococcus pyogenes systemic infection) that preliminarily established the antibacterial efficacy of Prontosil in mice dates from late December 1931.
How did Florey and Chain purify penicillin?
Purification and Trials Florey and Chain were interested in Alexander Fleming's work and in 1938, began studying the antibacterial properties of mold. Chain began by purifying and concentrating the penicillin “juice” through a complex and tiring process of freeze drying the product repeatedly.
Is prontosil a broad spectrum antibiotic?
Sulfonamides. The original sulphonamide, sulphanilamide, is the active principle of Prontosil, which holds a special place in medicine as the first agent to exhibit broad-spectrum activity against systemic bacterial disease (see Ch. 1).
What is sulfanilamide to prontosil?
Prontosil: An azo dye and antibiotic. Prontosil is a prodrug; in vivo metabolism converts it into the sulfa drug sulfanilamide, the active antibiotic agent.
When was Prontosil first used?
The crucial test result (in a murine model of Streptococcus pyogenes systemic infection) that preliminarily established the antibacterial efficacy of Prontosil in mice dates from late December 1931. IG Farben filed a German patent application concerning its medical utility on December 25, 1932. The synthesis of the compound had been first reported by Paul Gelmo, a chemistry student working at the University of Vienna in his 1909 thesis, although he had not realized its medical potential.
Why did Prontosil fail?
As a result, Prontosil failed to make the profits in the marketplace hoped for by Bayer.
What is the name of the drug that was first metabolized into sulfanilamide?
Ernest Fourneau, Jacques and Thérèse Tréfouël, Dr. Daniel Bovet and Federico Nitti discovered that Prontosil is metabolized to sulfanilamide (para-aminobenzenesulfonamide), a much simpler, colorless molecule, reclassifying Prontosil as a prodrug. Prontalbin became the first oral version of sulfanilamide by Bayer, which had actually obtained a German patent on sulfanilamide as early as 1909, without realizing its medical potential at this time.
What is protosil used for?
Prontosil is an anti bacterial drug of the sulfonamide group. It has a relatively broad effect against gram-positive cocci but not against enterobacteria. One of the earliest antimicrobial drugs, it was widely used in the mid-20th century but is little used today because better options now exist. The discovery and development of this first sulfonamide drug opened a new era in medicine, because it greatly widened the success of antimicrobial chemotherapy in an era when many physicians doubted its still largely untapped potential. At the time, disinfectant cleaners and topical antiseptic wound care were widely used but there were very few antimicrobial drugs to use safely inside living bodies. Antibiotic drugs derived from microbes, which we rely on heavily today, did not yet exist. Prontosil was discovered in 1932 by a research team at the Bayer Laboratories of the IG Farben conglomerate in Germany.
When was sulfanilamide discovered?
It has been argued that IG Farben might have made its breakthrough discovery with sulfanilamide in 1932 but, recognizing that it would not be patentable as an antibacterial, had spent the next three years developing Prontosil as a new, and therefore more easily patentable, compound. However Dr. Bovet, who has received a Nobel Prize for medicine, and one of the authors of the French discovery, wrote in 1988: "Today, we have the proof that the chemists of Elberfeld were unaware of the properties of sulfanilamide at the time of our discovery and that it was by our communication that they were informed. To be convinced about it, it is enough to attentively examine the monthly reports of work of Mietzsch and Klarer during years 1935–1936 and especially the Log Book of Gerhard Domagk: the formula of sulphamide is consigned there – without comment – not before January 1936."
Who was the first pediatrician to use sulfanilamide?
Dr. Alexander Ashley Weech (1895–1977), a pioneer pediatrician, while working at Columbia University 's College of Physicians & Surgeons (in the affiliated New York Babies Hospital) treated the first patient in the United States with an antibiotic (sulfanilamide; prontosil) in 1935 which led to a new era of medicine across the Atlantic. Dr. Weech researched Domagk's work, translating the German article, and "was so intrigued by [the] experiments and by the three accompanying clinical articles on Prontosil that he contacted a pharmaceutical house, obtained a supply of the drug, and proceeded to treat a patient [a daughter of a colleague] who had serious streptococcal disease." Dr. Perrin Long and Dr. Eleanor Bliss of Johns Hopkins University began their pioneering work later on prontosil and sulfanilamide which led to the large scale production of this new treatment saving the lives of millions with systemic bacterial infections.
Who made protosil?
The molecule was tested and in the late autumn of 1932 was found effective against some important bacterial infections in mice by Gerhard Domagk, who subsequently received the 1939 Nobel Prize in Medicine. Prontosil was the result of five years of testing involving thousands of compounds related to azo dyes .
When was Prontosil first discovered?
Prontosil, or sulphonamido-chrysoidin, was first synthesized by Klarer and Mietzsch in 1932 , and was one of a series of azo dyes examined by Domagk for possible effects on haemolytic streptococcal infection. When a curative effect in mice had been demonstrated, cautious trials in erysipelas and other human infections were undertaken, and not until the evidence afforded by these was conclusive did the discoverers make their announcement. Domagk (1935) published the original claims, and the same information was communicated by Hörlein (1935) to a notable meeting in London. ‡
When was prontosil invented?
Prontosil. Prontosil had been patented by I.G. Farben in 1932 and was first used successfully in Germany in 1933 to cure a case of staphylococcal infection in a child. From: Foundations of Modern Biochemistry, 1995. Download as PDF.
What was the name of the drug that Domagk used to treat streptococcal infection?
Accordingly, in conjunction with an ongoing examination of over a thousand azo dyes, Domagk tested prontosil against streptococcal infection in mice and found the compound to be effective. Domagk used prontosil in 1935 to treat a serious streptococcal infection in his young daughter, Hildegarde, who recovered promptly.
Why did Domagk use prontosil?
Domagk used prontosil in 1935 to treat a serious streptococcal infection in his young daughter, Hildegarde, who recovered promptly. The drug was also used by Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr, the President's son, again with positive results. Its use in 1935 in a 10-year-old girl with hemophilus meningitis unfortunately was not curative. However, the therapeutic use of the drug in that patient brought prontosil to the attention of the medical and scientific communities.
What dye did Domagk use?
PRONTOSIL. In 1932, workers at the I.G. Farbenindustrie received a patent for prontosil (sulfonamido-crysoldin), a newly synthesized yellow-red azo dye. This new dye attracted Domagk's attention because his main interest was exploring the possible medical therapeutic potential of dyestuffs.
What is serum pharmacochemistry?
Serum pharmacochemistry is a new discipline that has rapidly developed over the years, but its successful practice can be traced back to the invention of sulfonamides by Gerhard Domagk. German scientists synthesized a drug called prontosil in the 1930s, but it did not show the bactericidal effect in vitro. Domagk found that prontosil did not exert its effect in vitro, while injection in animal models was effective. His further research found that prontosil produced sulfonamides by an in vivo metabolism, and this metabolite had a bactericidal effect. This practice should have been an important development in drug in vivo research, but for a long period of time, regrettably a system methodology was not established.
What were the advances in Prontosil?
Advances included increased antibacterial potency, decreased toxicity, and the introduction of compounds with special properties such as high or low solubility and prolonged duration of action.
When did Prontosil start?
The appearance of Prontosil (a sulphonamide precursor) in 1932 was followed by a range of sulphonamide drugs, including sulphanilamide in 1936.
What is the antibacterial activity of prontosil?
It was soon discovered that the antibacterial activity was predominantly due to a metabolic product of Prontosil which was identified as sulfanilamide. It was then subsequently found that most animals were not only capable of reducing Prontosil to sulfanilamide, but also were capable of acetylating the sulfanilamide.
What happens in the first transformation reaction of Prontosil?
In regard to antibacterial activity, the first transformation reaction leads to activation of the compound, but the second reaction leads to inactivation of the compound. In the intact animal the first reaction takes place at a rate which exceeds that of the second reaction, thereby leading to accumulation of concentrations of sulfanilamide so that antibacterial activity is present in the animal. Had this not been the case, the mechanism of antibacterial action of Prontosil in all probability would have been overlooked. Many sequential transformation mechanisms lead to the formation of intermediate products, which exist as transient or only hypothetical products and would have to be extremely potent to have any significant toxicologic effect on the organism.
What is serum pharmacochemistry?
Serum pharmacochemistry is a new discipline that has rapidly developed over the years, but its successful practice can be traced back to the invention of sulfonamides by Gerhard Domagk. German scientists synthesized a drug called prontosil in the 1930s, but it did not show the bactericidal effect in vitro. Domagk found that prontosil did not exert its effect in vitro, while injection in animal models was effective. His further research found that prontosil produced sulfonamides by an in vivo metabolism, and this metabolite had a bactericidal effect. This practice should have been an important development in drug in vivo research, but for a long period of time, regrettably a system methodology was not established.
What was the pharmaceutical industry in the 1920s?
In spite of the economic depression, the 1920s and 1930s were a time of growth for the pharmaceutical industry globally, with the discovery and development of vitamins, insulin, hormones and the sulpha-drugs. Gerhard Domagk’s discovery of Prontosil in 1932 opened up an exciting new area of antibacterial treatments.
When was the first sulpha drug discovered?
A historical example of this phenomenon is the discovery of the sulpha drugs in the 1930s. The first such drug, Prontosil (4 [ (2,4-diaminophenyl)azo]benzenesulfonamide) was identified as having interesting anti-bacterial properties by Domagk and a group of researchers at Bayer in 1931.
Who discovered penicillin?
1928 penicillin discovered by Alexander Fleming#N#1928 Albert von Szent Gyorgi isolated vitamin C#N#1932 Gerhard Domagk , director of research for German company Bayer, found that Prontosil red, a dye, cured mice that had been injected with a lethal dose of streptococci#N#1935 sulfanilamide identified as the active principle in Prontosil#N#1944 streptomycin discovered; initially used for tuberculosis#N#1948 cortisone used to treat rheumatoid arthritis
What is the purpose of Prontosil?
A red azo dye of low toxicity, Prontosil was shown by Domagk to prevent mortality in mice infected with Streptococcus bacteria. The dye was also effective in controlling Staphylococcus infections in rabbits.
Is prontosil a sulfathiazole?
Prontosil has been replaced in clinical use by newer sulfonamide drugs, including sulfanilami de, sulfathiazole, sulfamethoxazole, and others.
What was Domagk's contribution to medicine?
The discovery of the antibacterial action of the sulphonamides was not, however, Domagk’s only contribution to chemotherapy.
Did Domagk give his daughter prontosil?
Domagk was, however, not satisfied that prontosil, so effective in mice, would be equally effective in man, but it so happened that his own daughter became very ill with a streptococcal infection, and Domagk, in desperation, gave her a dose of prontosil.
Is sulphanilamide an antibacterial?
During subsequent years much work was done in various countries on this class of antibacterial compound and some thousands of derivatives of sulphanilamide have been produced and tested for their antibacterial properties.
Who found the way to use anti-toxins?
Behring finds the way to use anti-toxins. Paul Ehring uses this knowledge as well as koch's dye and combines the dye with a chemical like an anti-toxin.
When did the daughter of the emperor accidentally pricked herself with an infected needle?
1935 when his daughter accidentally pricked herself with an infected needle he had to test prontosil that he'd only tested on mice before. She mad a speedy recovery.
Which countries started producing penicillin?
USA and England started producing penicillin massively. It helped save millions of lives during the Second World War and 1.2 million doses of penicillin was given to soldiers on d-day
Who invented the antibiotic Prontosil?
Gerhard Domagk. Prontosil was the first drug to successfully treat bacterial infections and the first of many sulfa drugs—forerunners of antibiotics. This achievement earned its creator a Nobel Prize, which the German authorities forced him to reject. In the 1920s and 1930s common bacterial infections ran rampant in Europe and the United States. ...
When were sulfonamides first used?
Visit the Science History Institute and see this item on display in our permanent exhibition, Making Modernity. Introduced in 1935 by Gerhard Domagk (1895–1964), sulfa drugs, or sulfonamides, all of which are related to the compound sulfanilamide, provided the first successful therapies for many bacterial diseases.
What did Domagk discover?
Domagk’s discovery of the antibacterial properties of Prontosil won him the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. However, the Nobel committee had angered the German political authorities by awarding the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize to Carl von Ossietzky, an outspoken German pacifist. Under the grip of Hitler and the Nazi Party, German citizens were forbidden to accept the Nobel Prize. After Domagk accepted the prize, he was arrested by the Gestapo and forced to send a letter rejecting it. Although Domagk was able to receive his prize medal in 1947, the prize money had long since been redistributed.
What was the strongest antitubercular drug?
Although Domagk and his research team were unsuccessful in finding that replacement, their work contributed to the later discovery of isoniazid —one of the strongest and most reliable antitubercular drugs. The information contained in this biography was last updated on December 4, 2017.
What were the most common bacterial infections in the 1920s?
In the 1920s and 1930s common bacterial infections ran rampant in Europe and the United States. Staphylococcal and streptococcal infections loomed large as killers, along with pneumococcal and tubercular infections. In this environment minor scratches and scrapes could prove deadly, and pneumonia and tuberculosis killed even young adults.
What were sulfa drugs used for?
In their day sulfa drugs developed in Germany and elsewhere were used to good effect to treat, among other conditions, meningitis, childbed fever, pneumonia, blood poisoning, gonorrhea, burns from gas warfare, and other serious burns.
