Chemist no. 294 of 350 · Organic

Carl Djerassi

1923-2015United States

Oral contraceptive; steroid chemistry

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The discovery, explained

Norethindrone: How Carl Djerassi's Team Made the First Oral Progestin

How Carl Djerassi's team made norethindrone, the first oral progestin, with Birch reduction and ethynylation. Steroid chemistry notes for JAM, NET, GATE.

Publishing soon · 6 min read

Biography

Carl Djerassi (1923-2015): The Chemist Behind the Pill Who Also Wrote Plays

Life of Carl Djerassi (1923-2015): Vienna-born Stanford chemist, norethindrone and the pill, mass spectrometry, octant rule, novelist and art patron.

Publishing soon · 5 min read

Academic lineage

Documented doctoral, postdoctoral and teaching links. Dashed chips are teachers outside the 350 chemists listed here.

Teachers: Alfred L. Wildsdoctoral
Students: No documented student link yet