History
The compound was first extracted (albeit in impure form) in 1816 by Christian Friedrich Bucholz (1770–1818). He called it "capsicin," after the genus Capsicum from which it was extracted. John Clough Thresh (1850–1932), who had isolated capsaicin in almost pure form, gave it the name "capsaicin" in 1876. But it was Karl Micko who first isolated capsaicin in pure form in 1898. Capsaicin's empirical formula (chemical composition) was first determined by E. K. Nelson in 1919; he also partially elucidated capsaicin's chemical structure. Capsaicin was first synthesized in 1930 by E. Spath and S. F. Darling. In 1961, similar substances were isolated from chili peppers by the Japanese chemists S. Kosuge and Y. Inagaki, who named them capsaicinoids.
In 1873 German pharmacologist Rudolf Buchheim (1820–1879) and in 1878 the Hungarian doctor Endre Hőgyes stated that "capsicol" (partially purified capsaicin) caused the burning feeling when in contact with mucous membranes and increased secretion of gastric juice.
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