SYNTHETIC VITAMINS — MAJOR 281 



nized that beriberi was caused by a badly balanced diet, but that is as 

 far as his studies carried him. 



In 1897, a Dutchman named Eijkman, working in Batavia, Java, 

 found that beriberi resulted from continuous consumption of decorti- 

 cated rice. He used the pigeon (pi, 1, fig. 2) as his test animal. In 

 1928, Jansen and Donath, working in the same laboratory as Eijkman, 

 first isolated vitamin Bi in minute quantities from rice polish. R. R. 

 Williams, who started work some 30 years ago on the same problem 

 in the Philippines, developed a practical method of isolating larger 

 quantities of vitamin Bi a few years later. However, it was soon 

 obvious that large-scale equipment and chemical engineering skill 

 would be required to produce the quantities of vitamin Bi that were 

 required to settle the structure of this vitamin. Dr. Williams turned 

 to the author's laboratories for help on his problem. Larger quan- 

 tities of vitamin Bi were isolated and the structure of the vitamin was 

 definitely established. Dr. Williams had previously carried out a 

 crucial experiment, in which he had found that with sodium sulfite 

 the vitamin could be split into two parts, a nitrogen-containing sul- 

 fonic acid and a sulfur-containing alcohol. In collaboration with 

 Hans Clarke of Columbia University the latter was shown to be a 

 thiazole derivative. After considerable additional work, the struc- 

 ture of the remaining fragment was determined by Dr. Williams and 

 by Dr. Cline of our laboratory, and the synthesis was accomplished 

 following an earlier synthesis of the thiazole moiety by Buchman 

 and by Clarke and his associates. Independently the vitamin was 

 synthesized by others, among them being Grewe, Andersag, and 

 Westphal, and Todd and his associates. Two of these syntheses are 

 graphically shown in figures 7 and 8. 



A good many strictly technical difficulties have been encountered 

 in the manufacture of vitamin Bi. The synthesis of the vitamin 

 involves a good many reactions, some of which are very complex. 



Other troubles were also encountered in its manufacture. One 

 particular step, in days gone by, was especially affected by its accom- 

 panying odor. One man was finally moved to quit. When asked the 

 reason, he claimed that his girl left him in the middle of the dance 

 floor I His odor had overcome his charm ! Many people leaving 

 work would have a slight but definite odor of burnt rubber. One 

 supervisor, on going to a movie, was somewhat embarrassed when 

 the lady next to him rose and informed the manager that there was a 

 short circuit or something burning near her. The manager, ushers, 

 the lady, and others gave the area a careful inspection to find what 

 was burning. However, the man was resourceful — he got down on 

 his hands and knees and joined the search. 



In 1915 Goldberger, a United States Public Health official, recog- 

 nized that dietary deficiencies might play an important role in the 



