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Unravelling how the complexity of living systems can (have) emerge(d) from simple chemical reactions is one of the grand challenges in contemporary science. Evolving systems of self‐replicating molecules may hold the key to this question. Here we show that, when a system of replicators is subjected to a regime where replication competes with replicator destruction, simple and fast replicators can give way to more complex and slower ones. The structurally more complex replicator was found to be functionally more proficient in the catalysis of a model reaction. These results show that chemical fueling can maintain systems of replicators out of equilibrium, populating more complex replicators that are otherwise not readily accessible. Such complexification represents an important requirement for achieving open‐ended evolution as it should allow improved and ultimately also new functions to emerge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-replicating molecules containing labile reversible covalent bonds are becoming increasingly topical. Yet their robustness to component exchange and the threat of loss of information has received very little attention. We show here that supramolecular interactions can efficiently protect self-replicating molecules from otherwise rapid component exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of supramolecular chemistry focuses on the non-covalent interactions between molecules that give rise to molecular recognition and self-assembly processes. Since most non-covalent interactions are relatively weak and form and break without significant activation barriers, many supramolecular systems are under thermodynamic control. Hence, traditionally, supramolecular chemistry has focused predominantly on systems at equilibrium. However, more recently, self-assembly processes that are governed by kinetics, where the outcome of the assembly process is dictated by the assembly pathway rather than the free energy of the final assembled state, are becoming topical. Within the kinetic regime it is possible to distinguish between systems that reside in a kinetic trap and systems that are far from equilibrium and require a continuous supply of energy to maintain a stationary state. In particular, the latter systems have vast functional potential, as they allow, in principle, for more elaborate structural and functional diversity of self-assembled systems - indeed, life is a prime example of a far-from-equilibrium system. In this Review, we compare the different thermodynamic regimes using some selected examples and discuss some of the challenges that need to be addressed when developing new functional supramolecular systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Making receptors to order: A small dynamic combinatorial library (DCL), formed from two dithiols in water, provides a continuous range of six receptors of different sizes. The majority of the 30 tested amines and ammonium ions amplified receptors from this library, thus spanning the complete receptor‐size range and showing that this DCL provides a generic platform for the development of receptors for this important class of compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an unprecedented, atom-economical one-pot procedure for olefination of carbonyl compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unravelling how the complexity of living systems can (have) emerge(d) from simple chemical reactions is one of the grand challenges in contemporary science. Evolving systems of self-replicating molecules may hold the key to this question. Here we show that, when a system of replicators is subjected to a regime where replication competes with replicator destruction, simple and fast replicators can give way to more complex and slower ones. The structurally more complex replicator was found to be functionally more proficient in the catalysis of a model reaction. These results show that chemical fueling can maintain systems of replicators out of equilibrium, populating more complex replicators that are otherwise not readily accessible. Such complexification represents an important requirement for achieving open-ended evolution as it should allow improved and ultimately also new functions to emerge., (© 2021 The Authors. Angewandte Chemie International Edition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

How new species emerge in nature is still incompletely understood and difficult to study directly. Self-replicating molecules provide a simple model that allows us to capture the fundamental processes that occur in species formation. We have been able to monitor in real time and at a molecular level the diversification of self-replicating molecules into two distinct sets that compete for two different building blocks ('food') and so capture an important aspect of the process by which species may arise. The results show that the second replicator set is a descendant of the first and that both sets are kinetic products that oppose the thermodynamic preference of the system. The sets occupy related but complementary food niches. As diversification into sets takes place on the timescale of weeks and can be investigated at the molecular level, this work opens up new opportunities for experimentally investigating the process through which species arise both in real time and with enhanced detail.

Making receptors to order: A small dynamic combinatorial library (DCL), formed from two dithiols in water, provides a continuous range of six receptors of different sizes. The majority of the 30 tested amines and ammonium ions amplified receptors from this library, thus spanning the complete receptor-size range and showing that this DCL provides a generic platform for the development of receptors for this important class of compounds., (Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)