Alexander Shulgin

Alexander Theodore "Sasha" Shulgin (June 17, 1925 – June 2, 2014) was an American medicinal chemist, biochemist, organic chemist, pharmacologist, psychopharmacologist, and author. He is credited with introducing 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, commonly known as "ecstasy") to psychologists in the late 1970s for psychopharmaceutical use and for the discovery, synthesis, and personal bioassay of over 230 psychoactive compounds for their psychedelic and entactogenic potential.

In 1991 and 1997, he and his wife Ann Shulgin compiled the books PiHKAL and TiHKAL (standing for Phenethylamines and Tryptamines I Have Known And Loved) from notebooks that extensively described their work and personal experiences with these two classes of psychoactive drugs. Shulgin performed seminal work on the descriptive synthesis of many of these compounds. Some of Shulgin's noteworthy discoveries include compounds of the 2C* family (such as 2C-B) and compounds of the DOx family (such as DOM).

Due in part to Shulgin's extensive work in the field of psychedelic research and the rational drug design of psychedelic drugs, he has since been dubbed the "godfather of psychedelics."

Shulgin was born in Berkeley, California, to Theodore Stevens Shulgin (1893–1978)[3] and Henrietta D. (Aten) Shulgin (1894–1960). His father was born in Chelyabinsk, Russia; his mother was born in Illinois. Theodore and Henrietta were public school teachers in Alameda County.

Shulgin began studying organic chemistry as a Harvard University scholarship student at the age of 16. In 1943 he dropped out of school to join the U.S. Navy. While serving on USS Pope during World War II, a nurse gave Shulgin a glass of orange juice prior to surgery for a thumb infection. Shulgin drank the juice and, assuming that the powder at the bottom of the glass was a sedative, fell asleep rapidly. Upon waking, he learned that the powder was undissolved sugar. The experience made him aware of the influence of placebos over the human mind.

After serving in the Navy, Shulgin returned to Berkeley, California, and in 1954 earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. Through the late 1950s, Shulgin completed post-doctoral work in the fields of psychiatry and pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco. After working at Bio-Rad Laboratories as a research director for a brief period, he began work at Dow Chemical Company as a senior research chemist.