Editing Polyene (section)

{{Short description|1=Organic compound with ≥3 C=C bonds}}
{{about|the class of chemical compounds|polyenes in antifungal therapy|Polyene antimycotic|the ancient Macedonian writer|Polyaenus}}

In [[organic chemistry]], '''polyenes''' are [[Saturated and unsaturated compounds|polyunsaturated]] [[organic compound]]s that contain multiple [[carbon–carbon bond|carbon–carbon]] [[double bond]]s ({{chem2|C\dC}}).<ref name=Penguin2ed>{{cite book |editor-last1=Sharp |editor-first1=DWA |title=The Penguin Dictionary of Chemistry |date=1990 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=London, England ; New York, N.Y., USA |isbn=9780140512328 |edition=2nd |page=320 |url=https://archive.org/details/penguindictionar00shar/page/320/mode/2up?q=polyenes}}</ref><ref name=OED2rev>{{cite book |title=Oxford Dictionary of English |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford ; New York |isbn=9780198610571 |edition=2nd, rev |page=1364 |url=https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary0000unse_z0z2/page/1364/mode/1up?q=polyene}}</ref> Some sources consider [[diene]]s to be polyenes,<ref>{{cite book |title=Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology |date=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780198506737 |edition=1st, rev |page=520 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780198506737/page/n530/mode/1up?q=polyene}}</ref> whereas others require polyenes to contain at least three carbon–carbon double bonds.<ref name=StructChem>{{cite book |last1=Benet‐Buchholz |first1=Jordi |last2=Boese |first2=Roland |last3=Haumann |first3=Thomas |last4=Traetteberg |first4=Marit |title=The Chemistry of Dienes and Polyenes |chapter=Structural Chemistry of Dienes and Polyenes |date=15 March 1997 |pages=25–65 |doi=10.1002/0470857218.ch2}}</ref> 

'''Conjugated polyenes''' contain a [[conjugated system]] of alternating single and double carbon–carbon bonds, with characteristic [[optical properties]].

The following polyenes are used as [[antimycotics]] for humans: [[amphotericin B]], [[nystatin]], [[candicidin]], [[pimaricin]], methyl partricin, and [[trichomycin]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Polyene macrolide antibiotics and their applications in human therapy |author=Zotchev, Sergey B.|journal=Current Medicinal Chemistry|year=2003|volume=10|issue=3 |pages=211–223|doi=10.2174/0929867033368448|pmid=12570708 }}</ref>