Charles Romley Alder Wright FCS, FRS (7 September 1844 – 25 June 1894) was an English lecturer in chemistry and physics researcher at St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, England.[1] He was a founder of the Royal Institute of Chemistry.[2]

Alder Wright developed hundreds of new opiate compounds and was the first person to synthesize diamorphine (heroin), in 1874.[3] He also discovered AlSb (aluminium antimonide).[4]

In addition to research papers on a wide variety of topics, Wright published several books, including one to interest young readers in The Threshold of Science: a Variety of Simple and Amusing Experiments.[5]

Scientific contributions
Wright was extremely versatile, having initially considered and trained for a profession in engineering. This allowed him to make diverse contributions to the chemical field.[7][1][6]

Diamorphine
In quest of a non-addictive alternative to morphine, Wright experimented with combining morphine with various acids. He boiled anhydrous morphine alkaloid with acetic anhydride over a stove for several hours and produced a more potent, acetylated form of morphine, now called diamorphine (or diacetylmorphine),[10] also known as heroin.[3][11]

After Wright's death, Heinrich Dreser, a chemist at Bayer Laboratories, continued to test heroin. Bayer marketed it as an analgesic[3] and 'sedative for coughs' in 1898. When its addictive potential was recognized, Bayer ceased its production in 1913.[12][13]