A Self‐Replicating System from Three Starting Materials

The reaction scheme may resemble a circuit diagram, but it actually represents a self‐replicating system consisting of a trimeric, a dimeric, and a monomeric building block. The trimeric to hexameric deoxynucleotide derivatives arise in the presence of a carbodiimide and exhibit catalytic, cross‐catalytic, and autocatalytic template effects that feed back into the various synthesis pathways. The major product is a tetramer that is formed preferably in a nonautocatalytic reaction path. In the autocatalytic pathway this product is exclusively “egoistic”, whereas the pentamer and hexamer enter into an “altruistic” relationship and “socialize” (i.e. thus behave as a molecular ensemble).