Mestranol (INN, USAN, BAN, JAN) is a synthetic estrogen and the 3-methyl ether of ethinyl estradiol. It was used as the estrogen in many of the first oral contraceptives, and is still used today.
Mestranol is a biologically inactive prodrug of ethinyl estradiol to which it is demethylated in the liver with a conversion efficiency of 70% (50 µg of mestranol is pharmacokinetically bioequivalent to 35 µg of ethinyl estradiol).