Aspirin Aspirin is a white crystalline substance made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. It is used in the treatment of rheumatic fever, headaches, neuralgia, colds, and arthritis; reduce temperature and pain. The formula for aspirin is CH3CO2C6H4CO2H. Aspirin's scientific name is actylsalicylic acid (ASA). The main ingredient in ASA is salicylic acid. This ingredient grows in small roots, leaves, flowers and fruits on plants. About 100 years ago, a German chemist, Felix Hoffmann, set out to find a drug that would ease his father's arthritis without causing severe stomach irritation that came from sodi