O-dealkylate
|O-de-al-ky-late|
🇺🇸
/ˌoʊ.diːˈæl.kɪ.leɪt/
🇬🇧
/ˌəʊ.diːˈæl.kɪ.leɪt/
remove an alkyl group from oxygen
Etymology
'O-dealkylate' is a modern chemical formation combining the prefix 'O-' (indicating the oxygen atom position), the prefix 'de-' from Latin meaning 'removal', the root 'alkyl' (a 19th-century chemical term for hydrocarbon substituents), and the verb-forming element '-ate'.
'O-dealkylate' developed in modern organic chemistry by compounding established chemical morphemes: 'alkyl' (attested in 19th-century chemical literature) combined with the Latin-derived 'de-' and positional prefix 'O-'; this produced the verb used in biochemical and synthetic contexts.
The term was coined to denote the specific removal of an alkyl group from an oxygen atom; its meaning has remained technical and consistent, referring to that removal reaction or process.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the process or reaction in which an alkyl group is removed from an oxygen atom; the operation or event of O-dealkylating a molecule (often seen as O-dealkylation in metabolic pathways).
O-dealkylation of the drug produced a more polar metabolite that was readily excreted.
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Verb 1
to remove an alkyl group (an alkyl substituent) from an oxygen atom in a molecule, typically by a chemical or enzymatic process (e.g., metabolic O-dealkylation of ethers or O-alkylated heterocycles).
Liver cytochrome P450 enzymes O-dealkylate many xenobiotics as part of their metabolic biotransformation.
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Last updated: 2026/01/09 14:43