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Russell Marker

Russell Marker and the Mexican Steroid Hormone Industry
Society: ACSMain Category: ChemicalSub Category: MedicalEra: 1930-1949DateCreated: 1938–1945Pond LaboratoryUniversity ParkState: PACountry: USAWebsite: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/progesteronesynthesis.htmlCreator: Russell Marker

Steroid chemists often refer to the 1930s as the Decade of the Sex Hormones, when the molecular structures of certain sex hormones were determined and first introduced to medical practice as drugs. Russell Marker achieved the first practical synthesis of the pregnancy hormone, progesterone, by what now is known as the "Marker Degradation." Produced from starting material in a species of Mexican yam, Marker’s progesterone eventually became the preferred precursor in the industrial preparation of the anti-inflammatory drug cortisone.

YearAdded:
1999
Image Caption: Marker DegradationEra_date_from: 1938–1945
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Russell Marker and the Mexican Steroid Hormone Industry

Steroid chemists often refer to the 1930s as the Decade of the Sex Hormones, when the molecular structures of certain sex hormones were determined and first introduced to medical practice as drugs. Russell Marker achieved the first practical synthesis of the pregnancy hormone, progesterone, by…

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