Hydroxy acid conjugation to lipids increases structural and hydrolytic stability

Area of Science:

• Origin of life studies
• Polymer chemistry
• Supramolecular chemistry

Background:

• Functional polymers and phospholipid compartmentalization are essential for modern life.
• The interplay between polymerization and compartmentalization in abiotic systems remains underexplored.
• Hydroxy acids and fatty acids are key molecules for studying early life chemistry.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the cooperative interactions between polymerization and compartmentalization.
• To model these interactions using hydroxy acids and fatty acids.
• To understand the role of self-assembly and cooperative chemistry in co-evolution.

Main Methods:

• Exploring the formation of hydroxy acid-fatty acid conjugates.
• Analyzing condensation products: hydroxy acid oligoesters and lipid-conjugated oligoesters.
• Measuring the critical aggregation concentration of fatty acids and assessing polymer hydrolysis.

Main Results:

• Conjugation of hydroxy acids to fatty acids significantly reduced the fatty acid critical aggregation concentration (by an order of magnitude).
• Hydroxy acid oligomers demonstrated enhanced stability against hydrolysis exclusively when conjugated to fatty acids.
• The study identified specific condensation products, hydroxy acid oligoesters and lipid-conjugated oligoesters.

Conclusions:

• Cooperative chemistry between lipids and polymers can drive self-assembly and co-evolution.
• The formation of conjugates plays a crucial role in enhancing molecular stability and self-assembly.
• This research provides insights into the selective driving forces in early chemical evolution.