THE BEECHMONT CREST GUIDE TO BIOLOGY
DEHYDRATION SYNTHESIS
Dehydration synthesis (or condensation) is the process by which monomers (building block molecules) are joined together into polymers (macromolecules).
Dehydration synthesis creates a bond between two monomers, while simultaneously removing a water molecule:
The opposite process is hydrolysis. Hydrolysis splits the bond between two monomers and inserts a water molecule.