6deoxy

6-deoxy is a chemical descriptor used in organic chemistry to indicate that the hydroxyl group normally present at the sixth carbon of a molecule has been removed or is absent. The term is most commonly applied to carbohydrate chemistry, where many hexose sugars carry a primary alcohol at C-6 as a hydroxymethyl group. A 6-deoxyhexose therefore lacks the hydroxyl at C-6, distinguishing it from the parent sugar.

In biology and natural products, 6-deoxysugars are widespread. Notable examples include desosamine and mycaminose, components of macrolide antibiotics such as erythromycin and related drugs. The deoxygenation at C-6 is achieved by specialized biosynthetic enzymes, and the resulting sugars contribute to the pharmacological properties of the glycosides by altering polarity, hydrogen-bonding capacity, and recognition by enzymes or receptors.

In medicinal chemistry and glycobiology, 6-deoxy derivatives are used to study structure-activity relationships, to probe the role of the sugar moiety, and as building blocks for novel compounds. The term is also used more broadly to describe other 6-position deoxygenations in non-carbohydrate systems, though its most common use remains in the context of deoxy sugars.