posted on 2019-04-30, 00:00authored byBrian
J. Cafferty, Albert S. Y. Wong, Sergey N. Semenov, Lee Belding, Samira Gmür, Wilhelm T. S. Huck, George M. Whitesides
How
simple chemical reactions self-assembled into complex, robust
networks at the origin of life is unknown. This general problemself-assembly
of dissipative molecular networksis also important in understanding
the growth of complexity from simplicity in molecular and biomolecular
systems. Here, we describe how heterogeneity in the composition of
a small network of oscillatory organic reactions can sustain (rather
than stop) these oscillations, when homogeneity in their composition
does not. Specifically, multiple reactants in an amide-forming network
sustain oscillation when the environment (here, the space velocity)
changes, while homogeneous networksthose with fewer reactantsdo
not. Remarkably, a mixture of two reactants of different structureneither
of which produces oscillations individuallyoscillates when
combined. These results demonstrate that molecular heterogeneity present
in mixtures of reactants can promote rather than suppress complex
behaviors.