Chemical systems, chemical contiguity and the emergence of life

• Terrence P. Kee and
• Pierre-Alain Monnard

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1551–1563, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.155

• relation to a specific geochemical environment. It also encompasses an important, often neglected, dimension: the fact that mixtures of disparate molecular classes imply a certain chemical contiguity in their syntheses. From the point of view of chemical research, a systems approach has, however, one

• /molecules, considered as an object in their own right. Using this rather inclusive definition, a chemical system can be composed, in its simplest manifestation, of very few molecules also incorporating elements of their geochemical environment. At first glance, this definition seems too broad in terms of

• availability of the PAH molecules by providing a specific hydrophobic environment for their solubilization, thereby improving the energy conversion. A putative scenario for the evolution of chemical systems towards protocells. (A) Prebiotic chemistry in the geochemical environment delivers an inventory of