Anton Köllisch (16 March 1888 – September 1916) was a German chemist who, while working in Darmstadt for pharmaceutical giant Merck, first described the synthesis of the chemical MDMA.
Life and work In 1911, Köllisch published his doctoral dissertation on the topic of indole synthesis from hydrazones under Otto Diels at the University of Berlin.Köllisch: Zur Kenntnis des Diacetyls. I. Über die Brauchbarkeit der Diacetylphenylhydrazone für Kondensationen. II. Über Versuche zur Ueberführung des Diacetyls in eine Ketotetrose, Inaugural-Dissertation, Berlin: E. Ebering 1911
Hochspringen↑
While at Merck, Dr Köllisch was involved in investigating syntheses for methylhydrastinine and hydrastinine. A procedural patent was filed on Christmas Eve 1912 relating to these syntheses, which mentioned MDMA without name as a chemical intermediate.
He was killed in the First World War.
References
Bibliography Germany, Kaiserliches Patentamt, Patentschrift Nr 274350, http://mdma.net/merck/mdma-patent1.html
Adam, David. Truth about ecstasy's unlikely trip from lab to dance floor: Pharmaceutical company unravels drug's chequered past, Guardian Unlimited, 2006-08-18.