The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 8 letter word TRACE ELEMENTS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
T
R
A
C
E
E
L
E
M
E
N
T
S
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "lesser building units?/(5,8)" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case lesser building units?/(5,8) = trace elements.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.