Histidine, a versatile proteinogenic amino acid, plays a broad range of roles in all living
organisms and behaves as a key mediator of the interactions of biomolecules with inorganic …

Copying information is vital for life's propagation. Current life forms maintain a low error rate
in replication, using complex machinery to prevent and correct errors. However, primitive life …

The complex interplay between systems and their environment plays an important role in
processes ranging from self-assembly to evolution. Polymorphism, where, from the same …

Mutualisms are interactions that benefit all species involved. It has been widely investigated
in neighbouring subjects, such as biology, ecology, sociology, and economics. However …

A penta-stranded helicate was obtained by combining [Pd (CH3CN) 4](BF4) 2 with La (NO3)
3 and a polydentate ligand. The helicate displays low symmetry, both in solution and in the …

Molecular scaffolds that enable the combinatorial synthesis of new supramolecular building
blocks are promising targets for the construction of functional molecular systems. Here, we …

Darwinian evolution, including the selection of the fittest species under given environmental
conditions, is a major milestone in the development of synthetic living systems. In this …

Recently, the first self-replicating molecules have been described that are capable of
catalyzing different reactions in addition to their own formation. These findings raise the …

The combination of palladium salts and bipyridyl ligands can lead to the formation of a large
variety of coordination complexes, with different shapes and sizes, displaying a very …

This thesis describes our attempts to develop new self-replicating systems and to install
functions that are as lifelike as possible. The introduction (chapter 1) opens with a general …