Diethylstilbestrol (DES) is a drug, an orally active synthetic nonsteroidal estrogen that was first synthesized in 1938. In 1971 it was found to be a teratogen when given to pregnant women. Synthesis DES was first synthesized in early 1938 by Leon Golberg, then a graduate student of Sir Robert Robinson at the Dyson Perrins Laboratory at the University of Oxford, based on a formulation of Wilfrid Lawson at the Courtand Institute of Biochemistry, led by Sir Edward Charles Dodds at Middlesex Hospi… (More on Diethylstilbestrol)