depolymerizev.
1. transitive. To break down (a polymer) into monomers or other smaller units.
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1893 [see depolymerization n. at Derivatives].
1909 Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang. Depolymerize v. tr.
1939 Jrnl. Biol. Chem. 127 258 Desoxyribonucleic acid, depolymerized by Feulgen's method.., is dephosphorylated by crude and by purified enzyme.
1968 H. Harris Nucleus & Cytoplasm ii. 22 This phage does not depolymerize the bacterial DNA.
2. intransitive. To undergo this process.
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1964 N. G. Clark Mod. Org. Chem. xiv. 272 This liquid trimer is preferred to the low-boiling acetaldehyde, into which it slowly de-polymerizes under the reaction conditions.
Derivatives
deˌpolymeriˈzation n.
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1893 I. K. Funk et al. Standard Dict. Eng. Lang. I Depolymerization.
1924 Jrnl. Text. Inst. 15 T. 383 The formation of dislocation marks can be ascribed to a process of twinning or gliding caused by lateral stresses in the fibre, which bring about a depolymerisation of the cellulose at these points.
1968 H. Harris Nucleus & Cytoplasm ii. 21 These phages induce depolymerization of the bacterial DNA.
deˈpolymerized adj.
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1939 Jrnl. Biol. Chem. 127 257 The fully depolymerized substance has a molecular weight of 1341.
1962 Lancet 12 May 1007/2 Tomkins et al. have found that the highly polymerised (tetrameric) form of the enzyme, glutamic dehydrogenase, catalyses the oxidation of glutamic acid while the depolymerised (monomeric) form catalyses oxidation of alanine.
deˈpolymerizing n. and adj.
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1939 Jrnl. Biol. Chem. 127 253 The depolymerizing effect of pancreatin on the nucleic acid.
1962 H. Heath in A. Pirie Lens Metabolism 363 This has been attributed to the consequent lack of depolymerizing peroxide and hence the accumulation of large molecules of the mucopolysaccharide.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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