During the 20<sup>th</sup> century, China underwent some of the most dramatic transitions that that land has ever seen: from an empire to a Communist state, and from a weak country that suffered a century of humiliation to an emerging superpower. Based on a few case studies, this presentation focuses on the use of arsenic compounds in China in the 20<sup>th</sup> century, first as a potent poison involved in the political power struggle, later as a medicine that offered hopes of life to numerous cancer patients. From a chemist’s perspective, the transition of the use of arsenic compounds over this period reflects the transition that China as a country has undergone.

From poison to life-saving medicine: The use of arsenic compounds in the twentieth-century China

ACS Fall 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.