gonane

This parent structure (1), named gonane (also known as the steroid nucleus), may be modified in a practically unlimited number of ways by removal, replacement, or addition of a few atoms at a time; hundreds of steroids have been isolated from plants and animals, and thousands more have been prepared…

…four-page “The Conformation of the Steroid Nucleus” (1950) immediately caught the attention of the scientific community, particularly organic chemists. The paper’s most immediate impact was seen in the way it provided a theoretical foundation for considerable experimental work in the field of steroid structure and synthesis. Barton’s work unified many…