Monomer

Molecule

Catalysis

Self-assembly

Polymer

Biochemistry

Selectivity

Organic chemistry

Crystallography

Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid

Duplex (building)

Chemistry

Nucleic acid

Base pair

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Significance The columnar liquid crystal phases reported here are physical associations of the smallest molecular species to self-assemble into the duplex base-paired stacked columnar double-helical structures of nucleic acids. These assemblies of monomers can provide starting states capable of partitioning appropriate molecules from solution with a high degree of selectivity, acting as pathways for the prebiotic appearance of molecular selection, self-assembly, and, ultimately, of the sequence-directed assembly of polymers.

Backbone-free duplex-stacked monomer nucleic acids exhibiting Watson–Crick selectivity