Oligomer

Common card · No. 418552

In chemistry and biochemistry, an oligomer ( ) is a molecule that consists of a few repeating units which could be derived, actually or conceptually, from smaller molecules, monomers. The name is composed of Greek elements oligo-, "a few" and -mer, "parts". An adjective form is oligomeric. The oligomer concept is contrasted to that of a polymer, which is usually understood to have a large number of units, possibly thousands or millions. However, there is no sharp distinction between these two concepts. One proposed criterion is whether the molecule's properties vary significantly with the removal of one or a few of the units. An oligomer with a specific number of units is referred to by the Greek prefix denoting that number, with the ending -mer: thus dimer, trimer, tetramer, pentamer, and hexamer refer to molecules with two, three, four, five, and six units, respectively. The units of an oligomer may be arranged in a linear chain (as in melam, a dimer of melamine); a closed ring...

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