What is the true meaning of dimerize and trimerize - neither of these words are found in any dictionary and hence, are not actually in use: scientific jargon perhaps, but not proper English. Also, if it is in proper use, in the UK, is it spelt dimerise & trimerise ending in SE rather than the US normal of ZE?
I used these words in a response recently and that may be the origin of this post. What do you mean--neither of these words are found in any dictionary and hence, are not actually in use; scientific jargon perhaps, but not proper English. Poppycock. I looked in my dictionary I have at home and dimer is listed, big as life. Dimerize is not listed but dimer is defined as formed from two identical things. AND that is exactly what it means in chemistry. It is not jargon (at least in the way I define jargon). I am no expert on linguistics BUT it's perfect English in my book. The more common terms are polymerize and polymer and they are used to characterize the formation of nylon, dacron, polybutadiene (synthetic rubber), teflon, and a host of other organic compounds that are used in daily life. Its hard to find clothes that are not advertised as a poly blend of this or that and cooking pans come with "teflon coated" blazed across the buy me signs. Poly means many so nylon, dacron, and all the other polymers consist of endless chains of smaller molecules to make huge molecules. Dimer then simply means two molecules joined and trimer means three molecules joined. Dimerization, which is not listed in my ditionary, is the process of forming a dimer; trimerization is the process of forming a trimer. A tetramer would be four such units joined. Etc. I hope this helps.
The words "dimerize" and "trimerize" are indeed scientific terms used in chemistry to describe specific processes. While they may not be commonly found in everyday language or general dictionaries, they are widely used within the scientific community.
In terms of spelling, there is some variation between British English and American English. In British English, it is more common to use the -ise ending, such as dimerise and trimerise. In American English, the -ize ending is more prevalent, as in dimerize and trimerize. However, both spellings are generally accepted and understood in scientific literature.
In chemistry, a dimer is a molecule or molecular complex formed by the combination of two identical molecules. Dimerization refers to the process of two molecules joining together to form a dimer. Similarly, a trimer is a molecule or molecular complex formed by the combination of three identical molecules, and trimerization is the process of three molecules joining together to form a trimer. The same pattern applies to higher multiples, such as a tetramer consisting of four joined units.
These terms are commonly used to describe various chemical reactions, particularly in the field of organic chemistry, where the formation of larger molecules from smaller building blocks is of interest. For example, polymerization refers to the process of forming polymers, which are large molecules composed of repeating subunits. Dimerization and trimerization are specific cases of polymerization where exactly two or three units are joined together, respectively.
Overall, while these words may not be part of everyday language, they are legitimate scientific terms used to describe important processes in chemistry.