Un monómero (del griego mono, ‘uno’, y meros, ‘parte’) es una molécula de pequeña masa molecular que está unida a otros monómeros, a veces cientos o miles, por medio de enlaces químicos, generalmente covalentes, formando macromoléculas llamadas polímeros. El monómero natural más común es la glucosa, que está unida por enlaces glucosídicos formando polímeros tales como la celulosa y el almidón, formando parte de más del 77% de la masa seca de toda la materia de la planta. Muy a menudo el término monómero se refiere a las moléculas orgánicas que forman polímeros sintéticos, tales como, por ejemplo, el cloruro de vinilo, que se utiliza para producir el PVC .El proceso por el cual los monómeros se combinan de extremo a extremo para formar un polímero se denomina polimerización. Las moléculas hechas de un pequeño número de unidades de monómero, hasta unas pocas docenas, se denominan oligómeros.

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A monomer (/ˈmɒnəmər/ MON-ə-mər) (mono-, "one" + -mer, "part") is a molecule that may bind chemically or supramolecularly to other molecules to form a (supramolecular) polymer. The process by which monomers combine to form a polymer is called polymerization. Molecules made of a small number of monomer units (up to a few dozen) are called oligomers. The term "monomeric protein" may also be used to describe one of the proteins making up a multiprotein complex. Industrial polymers: \n* Ethylene gas (H2C=CH2) is the precursor monomer for polyethylene \n* Other modified ethylene molecules, such as tetrafluoroethylene (F2C=CF2) which leads to Teflon, vinyl chloride (H2C=CHCl) which leads to PVC, styrene (C6H5CH=CH2) which leads to polystyrene, etc. \n* Epoxide monomers may be cross linked with themselves, or with the addition of a co-reactant, to form epoxy \n* BPA is the monomer precursor for polycarbonate \n* Many more Biopolymer groupings, and the types of monomers that create them: \n* For lipids (Diglycerides, triglycerides)*, the monomers are glycerol and fatty acids. \n* For proteins (Polypeptides), the monomers are amino acids. \n* For Nucleic acids (DNA/RNA), the monomers are nucleotides which is made of a pentose sugar, a nitrogenous base and a phosphate group. \n* For carbohydrates (Polysaccharides specifically and disaccharides—depends), the monomers are monosaccharides. *Diglycerides and triglycerides are made by dehydration synthesis from smaller molecules; this is not the same kind of end-to-end linking of similar monomers that qualifies as polymerization. Therefore, diglycerides and triglycerides are an exception to the term polymer. Examples: The most common natural monomer is glucose, which is linked by glycosidic bonds into polymers such as cellulose, starch, and glycogen. Most often the term monomer refers to the organic molecules which form synthetic polymers, such as vinyl chloride, which is used to produce the polymer polyvinyl chloride (PVC). IUPAC definition Monomer: A substance composed of monomer molecules. Monomer molecule: A molecule which can undergo polymerization, therebycontributing constitutional units to the essential structure of a macromolecule.

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