<unk> s (NRP) are a class of secondary metabolites, usually produced by microorganisms like bacteria and fungi.  These are also often found in higher organisms, such as nudibranchs but they are thought to be made by bacteria inside these organisms.  Note that although there are many<unk> s which are not made on the ribosome,<unk>  typically refers to a very specific set of these as discussed in this article.
Unlike polypeptides synthesized on the ribosome, these<unk> s are synthesized by<unk>  synthetases (NRPS) from amino acids.   NRPS can be thought of as preassembled, modular, molecular factories.  Unlike the ribosome, which is fed an mRNA code and can make an arbitrary sequence of<unk> s, an NRPS does not accept a code and is preset to make one<unk> . As a class, NRPS can make a wider diversity of<unk> s than can ribosomes.
NRPs often have a cyclic and/or branched structure, contain non-proteinogenic amino acids including D-amino acids, carry modifications like N-methyl and N-formyl groups, or are glycosylated, acylated, halogenated, or hydroxylated.  Cyclization of amino acids against the<unk>  "backbone" is often performed, resulting in oxazolines and thiazolines; these can be further oxidized or reduced.  Occasionally dehydration is performed on serines resulting on dehydroalanine.  This is just a sampling of the various manipulations and variations that NRPS can perform.  NRPs are often dimers or trimers of identical sequences chained together or cyclized, or even branched.<unk> s are structurally a very diverse family of natural products with an extremely broad range of biological activities and pharmacological properties. They are often toxins, siderophores, or pigments.<unk>  antibiotics, cytostatics, and immunosuppressants are in commercial use.
Nonribosomal peptide
Glycerophospholipid
Phospholipid
Glycolipid
Monosaccharide
Protein precursor
Diatomic molecule
Polyphosphate