Fig. 1. Electron sharing in multivalent atomic binding. The dots and crosses represent the outer electrons of the two different species in each molecule. In ammonia (a), N is connected to three H atoms and is trivalent. In carbon tetrachloride (b), C is connected to four Cl atoms and is tetravalent.
Inchemistry,polyvalency (orpolyvalence,multivalency) is the property ofmolecules and larger species, such asantibodies, medical drugs, and evennanoparticles surface-functionalized with ligands, likespherical nucleic acids, that exhibit more than onesupramolecular interaction.[1][2][3] For the number ofchemical bonds ofatoms, the term "valence" is used (Fig. 1). For both atoms and larger species, the number of bonds may be specified:divalent species can form two bonds; atrivalent species can form three bonds; and so on.[4]
Species that have polyvalency usually show enhanced orcooperative binding compared to their monovalent counterparts.[5][6][7][8] Nanoparticles with multiplenucleic acid strands on their surfaces (e.g.,DNA) can form multiple bonds with one another by DNA hybridization to form hierarchical assemblies, some of which are highly crystalline in nature.[9]
^Wu, Albert M.; Wu, June H.; Liu, Jia-Hau; Singh, Tanuja; André, Sabine; Kaltner, Herbert; Gabius, Hans-Joachim (April 2004). "Effects of polyvalency of glycotopes and natural modifications of human blood group ABH/Lewis sugars at the Galbeta1-terminated core saccharides on the binding of domain-I of recombinant tandem-repeat-type galectin-4 from rat gastrointestinal tract (G4-N)".Biochimie.86 (4–5):317–326.doi:10.1016/j.biochi.2004.03.007.PMID15194236.
^Crothers, D.; Metzger, H. (1972). “The influence of polyvalency on the binding properties of antibodies”. Immunochemistry. 9 (3): 341–57.doi: 10.1016/0019-2791(72)90097-3
