this is really two questions in one:
\-how are manmade chemicals made ??? what are they even made of ??
\-how do they make chemicals targeted for a specific reason like making a vanilla scent or pain reliever ?
In: Chemistry
Chemicals are made by using precursors that can be gotten from the environment or themselves made.
Most medicines are modified versions (or even identical) of chemicals found in plants. People traditionally found that willow bark helped with headaches, we found that it was the acetylsalicylic acid inside. What we commonly call aspirin.
If we can, we extract it from the plant and refine it. Because cells are much better at making chemicals than humans are. They have had billions of years of trial and error. So for morphine and heroin, we extract it from poppy seeds.
However sometimes it is too difficult, or not enough can be made so we synthesise it. For the example of aspirin, we synthesise it by reacting salicylic acid and acetyl chloride. We make these chemicals through a complex reaction with lots of other chemicals. Eventually reaching the point where you have something readily available in nature such as salts, water, ethanol (from yeast) and such.
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