Ibuprofen is the active ingredient in a number of brand name products suhc as Advil, Motrin and NUprin. Ibuprofen acts as an analgesic and is also an effective Anti-inflammatory drug. Anti-inflammatory drugs reduce inflammations from such conditions as arthritis, osteoarthritis and rheumatism.
The world production of ibuprofen exceeds 30 million pounds per year. The boot pure drug company (now the Boots compay PLC) of Nottingham, England first patented the synthesis of ibuporfen in the 1060's and this method has continued to be used for many years. The boot synthesis of ibuprofwen is a six step process and is shown below.
Another route to ibuprofen was produced by The Hoechst company with the assistane of a catalyst this process is only a three step process (shown below). Most of the routes to ibuprofen begin with isobutylbenzene and use friedel-crafts acylation.
In the eighties ibuprofen was approved for over-the-counter use and at the same time the Boots company patent expired. These two companies then merged and continued the production of ibuprofen using the new 3 step process. This new company was named after it's parent companies "the Boots-Hoechst-Celanese company" shortened to the BHC company.