Probing structural effects on replication efficiency through comparative analyses of families of potential self-replicators

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/chem.200600460

A formidable synthetic apparatus for the creation of nanoscale molecular structures and supramolecular assemblies through molecular structures can potentially be created from systems that are capable of parallel automultiplication (self-replication). In order to achieve this goal, a detailed understanding of the relationship be tween molecular structure and replication efficiency is necessary. Diastereoisomeric templates that are capable of specific and simultaneous autocatalysis have been synthesised. A systematic experimental and theoretical evaluation of their behaviour and that of structurally-related systems reveals the key determinants that dictate the emergence of self-replicative function and defines the structural space within which this behaviour is observed.