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Updated: Jul 12, 2025

Synthesis of Information-bearing Peptoids and their Sequence-directed Dynamic Covalent Self-assembly
Published on: February 6, 2020
Assembly-driven protection from hydrolysis as key selective force during chemical evolution
Rotem Edri1,2, Sarah Fisher1,2, Cesar Menor-Salvan3
1Institute of Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
Abstract:
The origins of biopolymers pose fascinating questions in prebiotic chemistry. The marvelous assembly proficiencies of biopolymers suggest they are winners of a competitive evolutionary process. Sophisticated molecular assembly is ubiquitous in life where it is often emergent upon polymerization. We focus on the influence of molecular assembly on hydrolysis rates in aqueous media and suggest that assembly was crucial for biopolymer selection. In this model, incremental enrichment of some molecular species during chemical evolution was partially driven by the interplay of kinetics of synthesis and hydrolysis. We document a general attenuation of hydrolysis by assembly (i.e., recalcitrance) for all universal biopolymers and highlight the likely role of assembly in the survival of the 'fittest' molecules during chemical evolution.
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