Building Molecules by a Self-Replicator That Catalyzes Acyl Hydrazone Formation

Catalysis of bond-forming reactions is key to the development of life-like chemical systems as it allows to build up new material, increasing molecular complexity and diversity. Integrating catalysis with other characteristic properties of life, like self-replication, represents an important advance in the transition from chemistry to life. We have previously shown that catalysis can emerge in synthetic self-replicators that form through supramolecular assembly. However, the organocatalyzed reactions were solely bond-breaking so far. We now report the successful expansion of the catalytic promiscuity of these systems to bond-forming reactions. We show that a self-replicator efficiently catalyzes acyl hydrazone formation between different hydrazides and aldehydes. This marks an important step towards the further development of evolvable systems that combine metabolic activity with self-replication.