Albert Hofmann Synthesizes LSD: Psychedelic Era Born

Albert Hofmann, a 32-year-old Swiss chemist at Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, synthesized lysergic acid diethylamide for the first time while researching ergot alkaloids for potential pharmaceutical applications. The compound, catalogued as LSD-25 because it was the twenty-fifth in a series of lysergic acid derivatives, showed no immediately promising properties and was shelved for five years. Hofmann had no inkling that he had created one of the most potent psychoactive substances ever discovered. Hofmann's research was focused on finding medically useful compounds derived from ergot, a fungus that grows on grain and had been used in folk medicine for centuries. Ergot alkaloids had already yielded drugs that could stimulate uterine contractions and treat migraines. Hofmann was systematically exploring variations on the lysergic acid molecule, hoping to find a compound that would stimulate the circulatory or respiratory system. LSD-25 was tested on animals in 1938, which noted only a restless quality in the subjects, and Sandoz lost interest. The substance sat in Hofmann's files until April 16, 1943, when he re-synthesized it following what he described as "a peculiar presentiment." During the process, he accidentally absorbed a small amount through his fingertips and experienced an unusual state of altered consciousness, including vivid closed-eye imagery. Three days later he deliberately ingested 250 micrograms, an amount he assumed would be a threshold dose but which turned out to be powerfully psychoactive. His famous bicycle ride home through Basel under the influence became the founding story of the psychedelic era. Sandoz marketed LSD under the trade name Delysid beginning in 1947, promoting it as a tool for psychotherapy and psychiatric research. Through the 1950s and early 1960s, legitimate researchers published over a thousand scientific papers exploring its potential for treating alcoholism, depression, and end-of-life anxiety.