23 Facts About Alexander Shulgin

Alexander Theodore "Sasha" Shulgin was an American medicinal chemist, biochemist, organic chemist, pharmacologist, psychopharmacologist, and author.

Alexander Shulgin is credited with introducing 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine to psychologists in the late 1970s for psychopharmaceutical use and for the discovery, synthesis and personal bioassay of over 230 psychoactive compounds for their psychedelic and entactogenic potential.

In 1991 and 1997, he and his wife Ann Shulgin compiled the books PiHKAL and TiHKAL, from notebooks that extensively described their work and personal experiences with these two classes of psychoactive drugs.

Alexander Shulgin performed seminal work into the descriptive synthesis of many of these compounds.

Alexander Shulgin's father was born in Chelyabinsk, Russia; his mother was born in Illinois.

Alexander Shulgin began studying organic chemistry as a Harvard University scholarship student at the age of 16.

Alexander Shulgin drank the juice and, assuming that the powder at the bottom of the glass was a sedative, fell asleep rapidly.

In late 1966, Alexander Shulgin left Dow in order to pursue his own interests.

Alexander Shulgin first spent two years studying neurology at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, leaving to work on a consulting project.

Alexander Shulgin set up a home-based lab on his property, known as "the Farm", and became a private consultant.

Alexander Shulgin taught classes in the local universities and at the San Francisco General Hospital.

Alexander Shulgin spent most of his later life at the Farm in Lafayette, California.

Around this time, Alexander Shulgin began showing early signs of dementia, mostly severe loss of short-term memory.

Alexander Shulgin died at his home on June 2,2014, at the age of 88.

Alexander Shulgin set up a chemical synthesis laboratory in a small building behind his house, which gave him a great deal of career autonomy.

Alexander Shulgin used this freedom to synthesize and test the effects of potentially psychoactive drugs.

In 1976, Alexander Shulgin was introduced to MDMA by a student in the medicinal chemistry group he advised at San Francisco State University.

Alexander Shulgin went on to develop a new synthesis method, and in 1976, introduced the chemical to Leo Zeff, a psychologist from Oakland, California.

Alexander Shulgin personally tested hundreds of drugs, mainly analogues of various phenethylamines, and tryptamines.

Alexander Shulgin published many of these objective and subjective reports in his books and papers.

The agency requested that Alexander Shulgin turn over his license for violating the license's terms, and he was fined $25,000 for possession of anonymous samples sent to him for quality testing.

Alexander Shulgin was a member of Mensa International and frequently attended Mensa events in California.

Alexander Shulgin refers to "The Owl Club" in chapter 11 of PiHKAL:.