Œstrogenic Activity of Certain Synthetic Compounds

IN earlier communications1,2 two of us have described the œstrogenic activity of certain derivatives of diphenylethane, and in particular it was shown that the introduction of an ethylene linkage between the α and β carbon-atoms of such compounds greatly increased the potency. A number of stilbene derivatives were found to possess a marked activity. Following up this observation, the activity of p-hydroxypropylbenzene was next investigated and compared with that of p-hydroxypropenylbenzene (anol). The œstrogenic activity of some specimens of anol was found to be of a very high order, but further research indicated that this remarkable potency was probably due to the presence of a more complex substance produced as a by-product during the demethylation of anethole3. Recently, the activity of di-anol has been described4.