1964: The discovery of THC is first described

1964: The discovery of THC is first described.

In 1964, Israeli professor Raphael Mechoulam from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem succeeded in the isolation and total synthesis of delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main active principle of cannabis. The discovery of THC was first described in “Isolation, structure and partial synthesis of an active constituent of hashish”, published in 1964 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Raphael Mechoulam’s major scientific interest is the chemistry and pharmacology of cannabinoids. He and his research group succeeded in the total synthesis of the major plant cannabinoids Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), cannabigerol (CBG) and various others.

Another research project initiated by him led to the isolation of the first described endocannabinoid anandamide which was isolated and characterized by two of his postdoctoral researchers, Lumír Ondřej Hanuš and William Devane. Another endogenous cannabinoid, 2-AG, was soon discovered by Shimon Ben-Shabat, one of his PhD students. He published more than 350 scientific articles. [1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael_Mechoulam

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