Editing Steroid (section)

=== Precursors ===
====Semisynthesis====
The [[semisynthesis]] of steroids often begins from precursors such as [[cholesterol]],<ref name="Sandow-2000" /> [[phytosterol]]s,<ref name=Cyclodextrins /> or [[sapogenin]]s.<ref name=MarkersDiscovery>{{cite journal| vauthors = Marker RE, Rohrmann E |title=Sterols. LXXXI. Conversion of Sarsasa-Pogenin to Pregnanedial—3(α),20(α)|journal=Journal of the American Chemical Society|date=1939|volume=61|issue=12|pages=3592–3593|doi=10.1021/ja01267a513}}</ref> The efforts of [[Syntex]], a company involved in the [[Mexican barbasco trade]], used ''[[Dioscorea mexicana]]'' to produce the sapogenin [[diosgenin]] in the early days of the synthetic steroid [[Fine chemical#Pharmaceuticals|pharmaceutical industry]].<ref name="Landmark_ACS">{{cite web | url = https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/progesteronesynthesis.html | title = Russell Marker Creation of the Mexican Steroid Hormone Industry | work = International Historic Chemical Landmark | publisher = American Chemical Society | access-date = 10 May 2014 | archive-date = 12 February 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200212065359/https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/progesteronesynthesis.html | url-status = live }}</ref>

====Total synthesis====
Some steroidal hormones are economically obtained only by [[total synthesis]] from [[petrochemical]]s (e.g. 13-[[alkyl]] steroids).<ref name="Sandow-2000" /> For example, the pharmaceutical [[Norgestrel]] begins from [[methoxy]]-[[1-tetralone]], a petrochemical derived from [[phenol]].