Title: polycyclic macromolecule
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - polycyclic macromolecule
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.15432
Status: current

Definition
Molecule that includes more than one macrocycle, all of which have at least one atom in common with another macrocycle.



Notes
1) Molecules that have two rings without any common atom are not considered polycyclic, e.g., biphenyl. In general terminology, however, they are often regarded as polycyclic.
2) "Multicyclic" or "pluricyclic" have been proposed as alternative terms for polycyclic. In accordance with nomenclature of organic chemistry, the term "polycyclic" is used here, since it does not lead to confusion with respect to "poly" in polymer. Therefore, the use of "multicyclic" or "pluricyclic" is discouraged as an alternative for "polycyclic".

Source
- PAC, 2008, 80, 201. 'Structure-based nomenclature for cyclic organic macromolecules (IUPAC Recommendations 2008)' on page 206 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac200880020201)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/15432/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/15432/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/15432/xml

Citation: Citation: 'polycyclic macromolecule' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.15432
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Accessed: 2026-07-12T21:57:33+00:00