Beyond symmetric self-assembly and effective molarity: unlocking functional enzyme mimics with robust organic cages

• Keith G. Andrews

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 421–443, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.30

• cages do not rearrange around the chosen substrates during catalysis. In contrast, strained cages without alternative minima that can relax to bind a transition state may be a productive avenue of research. Related to this conundrum is the recent interest in dynamic MOCs, which show promise in systems

• chemistry [200]. “Switchable” metal-organic cages [212] use a stimulus like light to change ligand geometries. This often triggers disassembly since new geometries can lead to new thermodynamic minima, though where geometric changes are tolerated within the original structure the stimuli can trigger guest

Heteroleptic metallosupramolecular aggregates/complexation for supramolecular catalysis

• Prodip Howlader and
• Michael Schmittel

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 597–630, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.62

• chemistry and information science. Keywords: heteroleptic complexation; information science; supramolecular catalysis; switching catalysis; systems chemistry; Introduction Supramolecular catalysis [1][2][3] for most chemists is associated with a catalytically active capsule providing either activating

• catalytic processes, a topic that has not yet found adequate attention, but links supramolecular catalysis to systems chemistry [108][109]. The following information system utilizes a seven-component mixture that is reversibly reconfigured through fully reversible assembly and disassembly thereby tuning ON

• allows, as demonstrated by Nature by the multicomponent ATP synthase motor, a more detailed and refined configuration of purposeful machinery. Furthermore, (metallo)supramolecular catalysis is shown to extend beyond the single "supramolecular unit" and to reach far into the field and concepts of systems

Using multiple self-sorting for switching functions in discrete multicomponent systems

• Amit Ghosh and
• Michael Schmittel

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2831–2853, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.233

• dynamic axle of the rotor assembly; hexacyclen to selectively remove the metal ions for regaining original states; two reactants and the product of the click reaction), requiring a systems chemistry approach [77]. At the heart of the logic operation, the two nanoswitches 25 and [Cu(78)]+ acted as a

• collected examples convincingly demonstrate the power of self-sorting for achieving and switching functions in a systems chemistry approach. Most notably, the reproducibility of reconfiguring these multicomponent ensembles will encourage further work in improving information processing in smart mixtures

Mechanochemistry of supramolecules

• Anima Bose and
• Prasenjit Mal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 881–900, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.86

• supramolecular chemistry are dynamic combinatorial chemistry [11], subcomponent self-assembly approach [12][13][14], and systems chemistry [15][16][17][18], etc. There also has been growing interest towards exploration of nontraditional energy sources like visible light [19][20], microwave [21], mechanochemical

• ] and systems chemistry [1][72] are considered as the fastest growing areas of chemical research during the last couple of decades [73][74]. The concept of systems chemistry offers a thorough understanding of the building-up principles for creation of complex functional molecular systems from

• conventional materials [75][76]. The systems chemistry approach may give easy access to new structures or functional materials simply by controlling the inputs of a multicomponent system. The concept of self-sorting [77][78][79] and subcomponent self-assembly approach [80] are well-developed methods being

Chemical systems, chemical contiguity and the emergence of life

• Terrence P. Kee and
• Pierre-Alain Monnard

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1551–1563, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.155

• obvious drawback: One should not expect the usual high reaction yields and chemical purity for the products. This fact highlights a fundamental difference in granularity of vision between traditional synthetic chemistry and systems chemistry in a prebiotic context. Whilst yield, purity, and conversion

• rates are key drivers of synthetic chemistry, those drivers for prebiotic systems chemistry appear to be less important than integration, contiguity, auto-catalysis and periodicity. In this short article, we will first attempt at defining chemical systems and chemical contiguity. Then, using recent

Grip on complexity in chemical reaction networks

• Albert S. Y. Wong and
• Wilhelm T. S. Huck

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1486–1497, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.147

• Albert S. Y. Wong Wilhelm T. S. Huck Institute for Molecular Materials, Radboud University Nijmegen, Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen, The Netherlands 10.3762/bjoc.13.147 Abstract A new discipline of “systems chemistry” is emerging, which aims to capture the complexity observed in natural

• synthetic and systems biology as well as metabolic engineering [27]. We must now learn how to apply retrosynthesis to network motifs, and we believe chemistry offers a unique opportunity to the design of chemical reaction networks (CRNs) [28][29][30]. A major challenge for systems chemistry is to translate

• in the presence of other networks?”. The interactions among individual components in CRNs can change over time and space [103][104][105][106][107], enabling regulatory functions to emerge that are dynamic and have limited predictability. The major challenge for systems chemistry is to translate the

Framing major prebiotic transitions as stages of protocell development: three challenges for origins-of-life research

• Ben Shirt-Ediss,
• Sara Murillo-Sánchez and
• Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1388–1395, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.135

• avenues in the field of systems chemistry [1][2]. For instance, although kinetic control mechanisms must play a central part in the explanation, dynamic kinetic stability [63] is not the answer (because replication is not all what matters for evolution, chemical or biological). It is probably too early to

Towards open-ended evolution in self-replicating molecular systems

• Herman Duim and
• Sijbren Otto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1189–1203, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.118

• -replicating system involving peptides capable of diversification using a systems chemistry approach [52]. Following the discovery of an exponentially growing self-replicating system [53], we used two building blocks, 1 and 2, to form a dynamic combinational library (DCL) of self-replicating molecules. These

Art, auto-mechanics, and supramolecular chemistry. A merging of hobbies and career

• Eric V. Anslyn

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 362–376, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.40

• and novel systems chemistry. If there is a lesson here, it is that one should take advantage of their strengths. Our hobbies as children, and as adults, don’t necessarily need to be significantly different than our careers. They can meld together, and thus work and recreation become one and the same

Life lessons

• Jonathan R. Nitschke

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 2350–2354, doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.256

• standards, and how to write one. We kept going in lab, seeking to generate new results of the kind that could underpin a successful UK grant proposal. The story of P4 encapsulation [10] garnered substantial positive attention, and an invited Nature Q&A piece on systems chemistry [11] probably helped, too

Chemistry in flow systems

• Andreas Kirschning

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2009, 5, No. 15, doi:10.3762/bjoc.5.15