Leo Sternbach

1908–2005 · Polish-American · Hoffmann-La Roche

Created the benzodiazepines. Chlordiazepoxide (Librium) came out of a compound he had shelved as unpromising and which was submitted for testing during a lab clean-up in 1957; diazepam (Valium) followed in 1963 and became the most prescribed drug in America for over a decade. Nitrazepam, flurazepam, flunitrazepam and clonazepam came from the same programme.

Compounds credited overall: 241 patents; the benzodiazepine class

On this site

• Depressants
• Diazepam C16H13ClN2O first synthesis, 1959

  Marketed as Valium from 1963.

• Alprazolam C17H13ClN4 first synthesis

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Sternbach