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

• (capacity of self-maintenance, self-replication and evolution under external constraints), should be investigated using a systemic approach where the functionalities in a chemical mixture are derived from the multiple interactions or “interconnected work” that exists between the various chemical processes

Towards open-ended evolution in self-replicating molecular systems

• Herman Duim and
• Sijbren Otto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1189–1203, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.118

• understanding of how life could have emerged from molecular building blocks and what is needed to create a minimal form of life in the laboratory. Keywords: autocatalysis; open-ended evolution; origin of life; self-replication; synthetic life; Introduction Mankind has always pondered upon its own existence

• provide an insight into the historical background and recent developments in the field of in vitro evolution of self-replicating molecules. To do so, we will first cover a few important principles of Darwinian evolution and will show how these concepts apply to the case of molecular self-replication. This

• is followed by a description of some self-replicating systems and their properties, starting from the very first report on self-replication to more elaborate systems. Finally, some recent experiments concerning in vitro evolution of self-replicating molecules and networks will be discussed. We argue

A direct method for the N-tetraalkylation of azamacrocycles

• Andrew J. Counsell,
• Angus T. Jones,
• Matthew H. Todd and
• Peter J. Rutledge

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 2457–2461, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.239

• be optimised alongside mixing performance [46], and in nanotechnology, where shaking can be used to modulate aggregation so as to favour particular nanostructures [47][48]. Otto and co-workers have investigated the influence of mechanical forces on reactivity in the context of self-replication by