Reichstein,Tadeus

Phillip S. Hench, Edward C. Kendall, and Tadeus Reichstein Physiology/Medicine ACTH... 

At Aldrich. It s close to 100,000 compounds. We have many famous chemists research samples. For instance, Louis Fieser s, Bob Woodward s, Tadeus Reichstein s, you name them. A great many good things have come out of this library. Suppose that a medicinal chemist has an idea that a given bromolactone has some medicinal effect. He can contact Aldrich and get a computer printout of every bromolactone and order whichever he wants at 40 a sample. 

Edward Calvin Kendall, Tadeus Reichstein, Philip Showalter Hench Hormones of the adrenal cortex, their structure and biological effects... 

If insulin revolutionized diabetes mellitus treatment, cortisone discovery was another revolution in inflammatory and arthritis management. The discovery of corticosteroids as a therapeutic can be linked to Thomas Addison (1793-1860), who made the connection between the adrenal glands and the rare Addison s disease in 1855.Edward C, Kendall (1886-1972) at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, USA) and Tadeus Reichstein (1897 -1996) at the University of Basel (Switzerland) independently isolated several hormones from the adrenal cortex. In 1948, Kendall and Philip S. Hench (1896-1965) demonstrated the successful treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis using cortisone. Kendall, Reichstein, and Hench were awarded the 1950 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for determining the structure and biological effects of adrenal cortex hormones. 

In 1948, Edward C. Kendall, who clarified steroid structures during the 1930s (see chapter 4), and Philip S. Hench (1896-1965), at the Mayo Clinic, demonstrated that the steroid hormone cortisone relieves symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. Kendall, Hench, and Tadeus Reichstein would share the 1950 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. Although Lewis Sarett (1917-99) at Merck had accomplished a total synthesis of cortisone in 1944 (Woodward published a more elegant one in 1951), cortisone and its close derivatives would have remained extremely expensive were it not for the efforts of Percy L. Julian (1899-1975). As soon as he learned of the Mayo Clinic discovery, Julian developed a rapid, inexpensive synthesis of Reichstein s Substance S, also isolated ftom the adrenal cortex. This steroid is easily converted to dihydrocortisone and Julian s pathway remains today the major commercial route to this over-the-counter topical remedy for sunburn, mosquito bites, and other uncomfortable skin irritations. 

Polish-born Swiss chemist Tadeus Reichstein (1897-1996) and British chemist Walter Haworth (1883-1950) independently synthesize vitamin C. US chemist Roger Williams (1893-1988) discovers the B vitamin pantothenic acid. 

Tadeus Reichstein (1897-1996), professor of Chemistry and director of the Pharmaceutical Institute, University of Basel (Switzerland), Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1950. As a major figure in the elucidation of the chemistry of steroids, his work will be encountered again (vide infra). The Haworth work was published in 1934 (Ault, R. G. Baird, D. K. Carrington, H. C Haworth, W. N. Herbert, R. Hirst, E. L. Percival, E. G. V. Smith, E Stacey, M. J. Chem. Soa, 1933,1419 while the full synthesis of Reichstein, T Grussner, A. Helv. Chim. Acta, 1934, 17, 311 and then Reichstein, T Grtissner, A. Oppenauer, R. appeared in Helv. Chim. Acta, 1934,77,510). 

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