Arsphenamine

Arsphenamine is a drug that was used to treat syphilis and trypanosomiasis. It was the first modern chemotherapeutic agent. Sahachiro Hata found this compound in 1908 while studying in the laboratory of Paul Ehrlich, during a survey of thousands of compounds in search of anti-spirochete activity (the bacterium that causes syphilis is a spirochete). This compound was marketed under the trade name Salvarsan in 1910. After leaving Erlich's laboratory, Hata continued parallel investigation of the new medicine in Japan.

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.

References

1. Izumi, Yoshio; and Isozumi, Kazuo. (2001). Modern Japanese medical history and the European influence. Keio Journal of Medicine 50 (2), 91-99. PMID 11450598.