What is "deoxy sugar"

n. (context chemistry English) Any compound formally derived from a sugar by replacing a hydroxy group by a hydrogen atom

Comparison of the chemical
structures of ribose (top)
and deoxyribose (bottom).

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 present in N-linked glycans
• Rhamnose, or 6-deoxy-L- mannose, present in plant glycosides