Butenandt, Adolf Friedrich Johann

Butenandt, Adolf Friedrich Johann (1903-95) German biochemist who isolated the male sex hormone androsterone and, in 1931, a few milligrams of progesterone from the corpus luteum of the ovaries of female pigs. His methods must have been relatively inefficient, as no fewer than 50,000 pigs were required. For his work on hormones he shared the 1939 Nobel Prize in chemistry with Leopold Ruzicka. 

RUZICKA, LEOPOLD (1887-1976). A chemist who won the Nobel prize in 1939 with Adolf Friedrich Johann Butenandt. His work involved research in organic synthesis including polymethylenes and higher terpenes. He was the first chemist to synthesize musk, androsterone. and testosterone from cholesterol. His medical degree was awarded at the University of Basel, Switzerland, although he was born in Croatia and educated partially in Germany. 

Adolf Friedrich Johann Butenandt (1903-1995) was born in Germany. He shared the 1939 Nobel Prize in chemistry (withRuzicka seep. 14 for isolating and determining me structures of estrone, androsterone, and progesterone. Forced by the Nazi government to refuse the prize, he accepted it after World War II. He was the director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin and later was a professor at the Universities of Tubingen and Munich. 

In the 1930s, however, interest in the compound was revived. In 1935, scientists obtained the first pure sample from testosterone and were able to confirm Brown-Sequard s findings. Within a matter of years, the compound became especially popular among middle-aged men who believed that it could restore their physical and mental abilities. Testosterone was first synthesized in 1935 by German chemist Adolf Friedrich Johann Butenandt (1903-1995), an accomplishment for which he was awarded the 1939 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. 

German chemist Adolf Friedrich Johann Butenandt synthesizes testosterone. 

Adolf Friedrich Johann Butenandt (1903-95), Germany. For his work on sex hormones. Leopold Ruzicka (1887-1976), Switzerland. For his work on polymethylenes and higher terpenes. ... 

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