monoester

1. (organic chemistry) An ester of a polyhydric alcohol or a polycarboxylic acid containing only a single ester group.Examples: "Frederick B. Power and Frank Tutin have experimentally confirmed the observations of Carré, that at temperatures above 110° the interaction between phosphoric acid and glycerole results in the production of varying amounts of diester accompanying the monoester or glycerophosphoric acid."; "For example, hydrolysis of diesters (Fig. 1) separated by a long methylene chain exhibits equal rate constants at each site (k₁ = k₂), which sets an upper limit of 36.8% for the yield of the monoester."; "Twenty healthy individuals participated in the study and on two occasions consumed the ketone monoester supplement or a placebo after a 10-hour fast."