Salicylic acid the product with sulfuric acid gives salicylic acid: It can also be prepared by the hydrolysis of aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) or methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen) with a strong acid or base. Hippocrates, Galen, Pliny the Elder and others knew that willow bark could ease pain and reduce fevers. It was used in Europe and China to treat these conditions. This remedy is mentioned in texts from ancient Egypt, Sumer and Assyria. The Cherokee and other Native Americans used an infusion of the bark for fever and other medicinal purposes. In 2014, archaeologists identified traces of salicylic acid on 7th
Fluoroacetic acid Fluoroacetic acid Fluoroacetic acid is a chemical compound with formula CHFCOOH. The sodium salt, sodium fluoroacetate, is used as a pesticide. It inhibits the aconitase step of the citric acid cycle. Fluoroacetate occurs naturally in at least 40 plants in Australia, Brazil, and Africa. It is one of only five known organic fluorine-containing natural products. It was first identified in "Dichapetalum cymosum", commonly known as gifblaar (Afrikaans) or poison leaf, by Marais in 1944. As early as 1904, colonists in Sierra Leone used extracts of "Chailletia toxicaria", which also contains fluoroacetic acid or its salts, to poison rats. Several native