From the Dance Floor to the Therapy Couch: A Brief History of MDMA
MDMA was first synthesized by Anton Köllisch at the pharmaceutical company Merck in Germany. The young German chemist developed 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine in his quest for an alternative chemical method to synthesize hydrastinine. The molecule was patented on December 24, 1912, but was never tested on humans. With the outbreak of World War I, Köllisch was recruited…
