Oligomerization

Note

Oligomerization: The process of converting a monomer or a mixture of monomers into an oligomer.

Note

In chemistry, an oligomer (/əˈlɪɡəmər/) (, "a few" + , "parts") is a molecular complex that consists of a few monomer units, in contrast to a polymer, where the number of monomers is, in principle, unlimited.Dimers, trimers, and tetramers are, for instance, oligomers composed of two, three and four monomers, respectively.

In the context of biochemistry, an oligomer usually refers to a macromolecular complex formed by non-covalent bonding of a few macromolecules like proteins or nucleic acids. In this sense, a homo-oligomer would be formed by few identical molecules and by contrast, a hetero-oligomer would be made of more than one, different, macromolecules. Collagen is an example of a homo-oligomeric protein that is composed of three identical protein chains. The term multimer (/ˈmʌltɪmər/) (, "more than one" + , "part") is used with a meaning similar to that of oligomer in the context of proteins (although technical restrictions of word sense may exist).

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