Collection 

Coacervation in systems chemistry

Submission status
Closed
Submission deadline

Complex molecular systems, in which large numbers of molecules react and interact with one another to give rise to emergent properties and behaviours, are present in every aspect of the world around us. Nature provides spectacular examples of molecularly-fuelled motion, chemical communication, quorum sensing, adaptive materials, oscillating reactions, and self-replicating systems, among others. The aim of systems chemistry is to understand the emergence of these properties from complex reaction networks, and to incorporate these networks into synthetic materials.

In living systems, complex reaction networks are organized into dynamic compartments, which sets the stage for the potential of this approach. Coacervation is a versatile way to create compartments with distinct chemical properties, through liquid–liquid phase separation. The size of these compartments ranges from the nanoscale to the mesoscale. They could act as organelles in a synthetic cell, be used as building blocks for smart materials, as catalysts, or to deliver cargo. They may also have played a role as protocells during the emergence of cellular life. Coacervates can bring subsets of molecules together, modulate their activity, and direct their interactions, thereby altering chemical reactions and assemblies. In return, chemistry can control the coacervation process and tune the chemical properties of coacervates, forging an intimate bond between coacervation and systems chemistry.

This Guest Edited Collection aims to bring together research at the intersection of systems chemistry and coacervation. We welcome both experimental and theoretical studies, with topics of interest including but not limited to:

  • Artificial cells and phase separation in synthetic biology
  • Chemical origins of life
  • Active matter
  • Chemically active droplets
  • Methodologies to create, stabilize and characterize coacervates
  • Chemical reaction networks controlling the formation of coacervates
  • Coacervates controlling chemical reaction networks

In addition to primary research Articles, we also welcome Perspectives, Reviews, and Comments. All submissions will be subject to the same review process and editorial standards as regular Communications Chemistry Articles.

Microscopy image of coacervate microdroplets

Editors

Nathalie Katsonis is Professor of Chemistry at the University of Groningen (The Netherlands), where she leads a research group dedicated to the design and synthesis of active (supra)-molecular systems and materials. She obtained her PhD from the University Pierre et Marie Curie (France) in 2004, for her work on chirality and order in molecular self-assemblies.

 

 

Lorraine Leon is an Assistant Professor in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at the University of Central Florida. She is an experimentalist with research interests in self-assembly, biomaterials, polymer science, systems chemistry, nanomedicine and catalysis.

 

 

Guillermo Monreal Santiago is an Assistant Professor at the University of Strasbourg since 2022. His research involves coacervates – from the basic forces that drive their formation and transformation into self-assembled structures, to their applications in other areas of chemistry, such as systems chemistry and recycled materials.

 

 

Evan Spruijt is associate professor of physical chemistry at the Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University, Nijmegen. His research is focused on phase transitions and self-organization of peptides, proteins and nucleic acids, and their role in cellular organization and the emergence of life-like systems.