Emergence and Competing Selectivity of Minimal Self‐Assembly Lipoamino Acids

This study shows that lipoamino acids can be obtained from their individual components, which are free amino acids and lipid precursors, and that octanoyl-L-histidine, C₈-His, outcompetes in its formation from a pool of natural amino acids and a family of lipids with a diverse chain length. The observed selectivity is purely based on kinetics, following an autocatalytic mechanism.

Abstract

Designing synthetic chemical systems capable of mimicking life-like behavior surely will help to understand the basic principles sustaining life, but also to create advanced materials potentially going beyond nature. Herein, we report the synthesis of a family of lipoamino acids from their individual components, which are free amino acids and lipid precursors, that allow us to study competition and selection in their formation. Octanoyl-L-histidine outcompetes from a pool of natural amino acids and a family of lipids, emerging as the fittest, where the observed selectivity is the result of a very efficient autocatalytic mechanism.

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