Abstract
ALTHOUGH the stimulant action of the thyroid gland upon the general metabolism of the body has been recognised for more than a generation, yet it is only within the last decade that the isolation of a pure crystalline principle, possessing the stimulating effects of the whole gland, has been successful. This was first accomplished by Kendall in 1914; since then this author has described a number of the derivatives of the pure substance, which he called “thyroxin,” and has suggested a structural formula for it. Our knowledge of it has now been carried a step further by Harington, who has improved the method of extraction so that it gives a much higher yield than Kendall's method, and has proceeded, with the larger amount of material thus available, to determine its chemical constitution by methods of degradation and synthesis. Although at present synthesis has only been carried to the penultimate stage, there is every reason to hope, considering the way in which the author has unravelled the constitution of this compound, that the complete synthesis will soon be successful.
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The Chemical Constitution of Thyroxine. Nature 118, 65–66 (1926). https://doi.org/10.1038/118065a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/118065a0