Digitalose is a

deoxy sugar Deoxy sugars are sugars that have had a hydroxyl group replaced with a hydrogen atom. Examples include: * Deoxyribose, or 2-deoxy-D-ribose, a constituent of DNA * Fucose, or 6-deoxy-L-galactose, main component of fucoidan of brown algae, and p ...

that is a component of various

cardiac glycoside Cardiac glycosides are a class of organic compounds that increase the output force of the heart and decrease its rate of contractions by inhibiting the cellular sodium-potassium ATPase pump. Their beneficial medical uses are as treatments for co ...

s including

thevetin Thevetins are a group of poisonous cardiac glycosides. They are obtained especially from the seeds of a West Indian shrub or small tree (''Cascabela thevetia'' syn. ''Thevetia nereifolia'') of the dogbane family (Apocynaceae). Hydrolysis products i ...

and emicymarin. It was first reported in 1892 as being obtained by the

hydrolysis Hydrolysis (; ) is any chemical reaction in which a molecule of water breaks one or more chemical bonds. The term is used broadly for substitution reaction, substitution, elimination reaction, elimination, and solvation reactions in which water ...

of ''Digtalinum verum''. The chemical structure was first elucidated in 1943 by the German chemist Otto Schmidt. Chemically, it is a

methyl In organic chemistry, a methyl group is an alkyl derived from methane, containing one carbon atom bonded to three hydrogen atoms, having chemical formula . In formulas, the group is often abbreviated as Me. This hydrocarbon group occurs in many ...

ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula , where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again be c ...

of D-fucose.

References

{{reflist Deoxy sugars Ethers

See also

References