Landmark designation

The American Chemical Society, in collaboration with Sociedad Química de México, designated the "Marker Degradation" and the creation of the Mexican hormone steroid industry as an International Historic Chemical Landmark in 1999. The text of the plaque dedicated at Pennsylvania State University on October 1, 1999, reads:

In Pond Laboratory, Russell E. Marker achieved the first practical synthesis of the pregnancy hormone, progesterone, by what now is known as the "Marker Degradation." After discovering an economical source of his starting material in a species of Mexican yam, Marker commercialized his process in 1944 at Syntex, S.A., which he founded in Mexico City with Emeric Somlo and Federico A. Lehmann. This low-cost progesterone eventually became the preferred precursor in the industrial preparation of the anti-inflammatory drug cortisone. In 1951, Syntex researchers synthesized the first useful oral contraceptive from Marker's starting material. Syntex and its competitors in Mexico thus became a powerful international force in the development of steroidal pharmaceuticals.

The English version of the text of the plaque dedicated in Mexico City on December 2, 1999, reads:

In 1944, at this first site of Syntex, S.A., in Mexico City, Pennsylvania State College chemist Russell E. Marker accomplished the first industrial conversion of diosgenin (from a Mexican yam) to the pregnancy hormone, progesterone, using chemical reactions now known as the "Marker Degradation." Marker, along with Emeric Somlo and Federico A. Lehmann of Laboratorios Hormona, founded the new company. The low-cost progesterone eventually became the preferred precursor in the industrial preparation of the anti-inflammatory drug cortisone. In 1951, Syntex researchers synthesized the first useful oral contraceptive from Marker's starting material. Syntex and its competitors in Mexico thus became a powerful international force in the development of steroidal pharmaceuticals.

The Web site of the Sociedad Química de México is http://www.sqm.org.mx.

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The Decade of the Sex Hormones | To Orizaba and beyond | A steroid industry in Mexico | Syntex prospers | Cortisone and the "Pill" | The life of Russell Marker | Landmark designation

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