Jesús Romo Armería, Mexican organic chemist (Aguascalientes 09 October 1922 – Ciudad de Mexico 14 May 1977)
Authored 156 works
ACHIEVEMENTS
Performed the first chemical synthesis of steroidal compounds
Isolated and determined structurally a great variety of substances from Mexican flora
With C. Djerassi isolated cuauchicine, a diterpenoid alkaloid from Garrya laurifolia (1954)
Isolated helenine, a sesquiterpenic lactone
Described Romo de Vivar transformation, a reaction of transformation involving a 2-acetoxy-brominated compound into a 2-hydroxy-acetylated compound
With A. Romo de Vivar. Some experiments with 16 β-bromo-17 α-acetoxy-20 ketosteroids. Synthesis of 16 α-17α-dihydroxysteroids and related compounds. J. Org. Chem. 21:902-9, 1956
Developed a method to obtain female hormones estradiol and progesterone from Dioscorea sp.
With G. Rosenkranz developed a method for aromatization of rings of cholesterol series compounds (1950-1)
With C. Djerassi, G. Rosenkranz, S. Kaufmann & J. Pataki. Steroids VII. Contribution to the bromination of ∆4 3-ketosteroids and a new partial synthesis of natural estrogens. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 72:4534, 1950
With C. Djerassi, G. Rosenkranz, S. Kaufmann & J. Pataki. Steroids VIII. The dienone-phenol rearrangement in the steroid series. Synthesis of a new class of estrogens. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 72:4540, 1950
With G. Rosenkranz & F. Sondheimer. Steroids LXXXVIII. A new synthesis of desoxycorticosterone acetate and of 16-dehydro-desoxycorticosterone acetate. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 79:5034, 1957