acyclic compound
(redirected from open chain compound)Also found in: Medical.
acyclic compound
[ā′sik·lik ′käm‚pau̇nd] (organic chemistry)
A chemical compound with an open-chain molecular structure rather than a ring-shaped structure; for example, the alkane series.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.