Editing Arthur Eichengrün (section)

{{Short description|German chemist (1867–1949)}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=February 2010}}{{Infobox scientist
| image = A. Eichengrün ca1900.jpg
| caption = Arthur Eichengrün at [[Bayer]] (ca. 1900)
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1867|8|13|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Aachen]], [[Rhine Province]], [[Kingdom of Prussia]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1949|12|23|1867|8|13|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Bad Wiessee]], [[West Germany]]
| nationality = [[Germany|German]]
| alma_mater = [[RWTH Aachen University]]
| known_for = 
}}

'''Arthur Eichengrün''' (13 August 1867 – 23 December 1949) was a [[German Jewish]] chemist, materials scientist, and inventor. He is known for developing the highly successful anti-[[gonorrhea]] drug [[Protargol]], the standard treatment for 50 years until the adoption of antibiotics, and for his pioneering contributions in plastics: co-developing (with Theodore Becker) the first soluble [[cellulose acetate]] materials in 1903, called "Cellit", and creating processes for the manufacture of these materials which were influential in the development of [[injection moulding]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.plastiquarian.com/index.php?id=59|title = Home}}</ref> During World War I his relatively non-flammable synthetic cellulose acetate lacquers, marketed under the name "Cellon", were important in the aircraft industry. He contributed to [[photochemistry]] by inventing the first process for the production and development of [[cellulose acetate film]], which he patented with Becker.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2830905643.html| title = Eichengrün, Arthur {{!}} Encyclopedia.com}}</ref>

Eichengrün claimed to have directed the [[History of aspirin#Synthesis of acetylsalicylic acid|initial synthesis of aspirin]] in 1897,<ref name="Distillations">{{cite journal|last1=Dick |first1=Brian |title=Hard Work and Happenstance |url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/hard-work-and-happenstance |journal=Distillations |publisher=[[Science History Institute]]|date=2018|volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=44–45|accessdate=July 11, 2018 }}</ref> but his claim has been disputed. For many years Bayer credited [[Felix Hoffmann]], Eichengrün's junior, with the invention of aspirin. However, according to some historians the first attribution of the discovery to Hoffmann appears in 1934, and may have reflected anti-Jewish revisionism. Nonetheless, Bayer has denied these claims indicating that Hoffman already figured as the inventor in the American patent of aspirin filed in 1899.<ref name="Sneader"/>

During [[World War II]], Eichengrün was imprisoned in the [[Concentration camp Theresienstadt|Theresienstadt concentration camp]].