Sertürner

Sertürner, Friedrich Wilhelm Serturner (1783–1841), was a German pharmacist credited with isolating morphine, the principal alkaloid of opium, in 1804–1805. Variants of his surname include Serturner and Sertürner, with the spelling reflecting different transliterations of his name.

In Marburg, Serturner extracted a white crystalline substance from opium and named it morphium, later known as morphine. He published his findings in 1805, presenting the substance as a distinct, active component responsible for many of opium’s effects. The achievement is regarded as a turning point in pharmacology and organic chemistry, demonstrating that a plant's pharmacological activity could be attributed to a single chemical entity.

Impact and legacy: The isolation of morphine established the field of alkaloid chemistry and spurred systematic study of plant-derived medicines. Morphine’s analgesic properties led to widespread medical use and influenced the development of subsequent pain-relief drugs, as well as regulatory and ethical discussions surrounding opioid medications. Serturner’s work is often cited as the birth of modern pharmacognosy and the practical, experimental approach to identifying active constituents in complex natural products.

Serturner’s later life remained within the pharmaceutical sphere, and his discovery left a lasting imprint on medicine, chemistry, and the history of drugs. His name endures in historical references to morphine and to early efforts to isolate active constituents from natural substances.