dimer Chem.
(ˈdaɪmə(r))
[f. di-2 + Gr. µέρ-ος share, part (after polymer).]
A compound related to some other compound by having twice the number of atoms of the various elements in its molecule; usually, a compound the molecule of which is a double molecule formed by the joining together of two identical molecules.
| 1930 Jrnl. Amer. Chem. Soc. LII. 320 From the distillate was isolated a very small amount..of a crystalline solid having the analytical composition of tetramethylene carbonate. Molecular weight determinations indicated that it is a dimer: COO(CH2)4OCOO(CH2)4O . 1951 S. Coffey tr. Wibaut's Org. Chem. vii. 105 If two molecules of the monomer combine, the polymer so formed is called a dimer, if three molecules combine, a trimer..and so on. 1964 J. W. Linnett Electronic Struct. Molecules iii. 50 Let us consider the dimer of CN, namely cyanogen, C2N2. 1965 New Scientist 29 Apr. 291/1 An excited molecule can join with a ground-state molecule to form a new double molecule (or dimer). |