Pethidine (
INN,
AAN,
BAN) or
meperidine (
USAN) was once a popular synthetic
opioid analgesic of the
phenylpiperidine class. Synthesized in 1939 as a potential
anticholinergic agent by the German chemist Otto Eisleb, its analgesic properties were first recognized by Otto Schaumann while working for
IG Farben, Germany.