Cerevisterol is a sterol. Originally described in the 1930s from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, it has since been found in several other fungi and, recently, in deep water coral. Cerevisterol was first discovered in 1928 as a component of crude yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) sterols remaining from the manufacture of the related ergosterol. Chemists Edna M. Honeywell and Charles E. Bills purified the compound and reported some of its properties in a 1932 publication. They noted its high melting point (265.3 °C) relative to other sterols, and insolubility in the organic solvent hexane. These characteristics facilitated its purification, and they were able to obtain 10 grams (0.35 oz) of cerevisterol from 4,500 kilograms (9,900 lb) of dry yeast. The following year, they determined its chemical formula to be C26H46O3, with two double bonds, and with two of the oxygen molecules occurring in hydroxyl groups.
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