What is "dithioerythritol"

n. (context chemistry English) A sulphur-containing sugar, an epimer of dithiothreitol, derived from erythrose.

Dithioerythritol (DTE) is a sulfur containing sugar derived from the corresponding 4-carbon monosaccharide erythrose. It is an epimer of dithiothreitol (DTT). The molecular formula for DTE is CHOS.

Like DTT, DTE makes an excellent reducing agent, although its standard reduction potential is not quite as negative, i.e., DTE is slightly less effective at reducing than DTT, presumably because steric repulsion of its OH groups makes the cyclic disulfide-bonded form of DTE less stable compared to that of DTT. In DTT, these hydroxyl groups are trans to each other, whereas they are cis to each other in DTE.