"Prebiotic Chemistry" working group

The Prebiotic Chemistry working group is dedicated first and foremost to the question of what actually characterizes a chemistry that is capable of leading to a living system of some kind. What is the essence of prebiotic chemistry?

In a first meeting, the following approach was found:

Prebiotic chemistry consists of reaction sequences that simultaneously increase the informational complexity and the structural order of a given structure.
It thus clearly distinguishes itself from chaotic reaction processes (complexity without order) and from simple crystallization processes (order without complexity). All steps in prebiotic chemistry must therefore lead to molecules whose complexity is greater than that of the reactants, for example to macromolecules with a defined sequence or generally molecules with a higher molecular mass. On the other hand, the product must also be enriched and selected from possible, less functional by-products, so that a product with minimal mixture entropy can be assumed (order).

The direction that can lead to a living system via this type of process is best summarized in a complexity versus order diagram. In the following, individual steps are shown that are dealt with in the working groups of the participating members.

Speaker of the working group: