The synthesis scale represents the quantity of precursor used to begin the manufacture of the oligonucleotide. Because the synthesis cycle proceeds with a finite efficiency some material is lost while coupling each nucleotide monomer, as well as cleavage of the oligonucleotide from the solid support, and finally preparative purification following synthesis. The aggregate loss from each of these steps cause the final yield of the oligonucleotide to be less than the starting synthesis scale.