Methadone was developed in 1937 in Germany by scientists Max Bockmühl and Gustav Ehrhart working for I.G. Farbenindustrie AG at the Farbwerke Hoechst (it is synthesised from 1,1-diphenylbutane-2-sulfonic acid and dimethylamino-2-chloropropane) who were looking for a synthetic opioid that could be created with readily available precursors, to solve Germany's opium shortage problem.