A Synthetic Replicator Drives a Propagating Reaction–Diffusion Front

• Published in: Journal of the American Chemical Society 2016-06, Vol.138 (21), p.6723-6726
• Main Authors: Bottero, Ilaria, Huck, Jürgen, Kosikova, Tamara, Philp, Douglas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0002-7863; 1520-5126
• DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b03372

A simple synthetic autocatalytic replicator is capable of establishing and driving the propagation of a reaction–diffusion front within a 50 μL syringe. This replicator templates its own synthesis through a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction between a nitrone component, equipped with a 9-ethynyl­anthracene optical tag, and a maleimide. Kinetic studies using NMR and UV–vis spectroscopies confirm that the replicator forms efficiently and with high diastereo­selectivity, and this replication process brings about a dramatic change in optical properties of the samplea change in the color of the fluorescence in the sample from yellow to blue. The addition of a small amount of the preformed replicator at a specific location within a microsyringe, filled with the reaction building blocks, results in the initiation and propagation of a reaction–diffusion front. The realization of a replicator capable of initiating a reaction–diffusion front provides a platform for the examination of interconnected replicating networks under out-of-equilibrium conditions involving diffusion processes.