Talk:History of LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide (abbreviated as LSD or LSD-25) is a semisynthetic psychedelic substance of the lysergamide family. LSD was first synthesized by Albert Hoffmann in Switzerland in 1938 from ergotamine, a chemical from the fungus ergot. Hoffmann accidentally discovered its psychedelic effect in 1943.
Discovery of LSD
Hoffmann was an employee in the pharmaceutical-chemical department of Sandoz Laboratories (now a subsidiary of Novartis), located in Basel as a co-worker with professor Arthur Stoll, founder and director of the pharmaceutical department.[7] He began studying the medicinal plant squill and the fungus ergot as part of a program to purify and synthesize active constituents for use as pharmaceuticals. His main contribution was to elucidate the chemical structure of the common nucleus of the Scilla glycosides (an active principal of Mediterranean Squill).