Visible‐Light‐Mediated Selective Arylation of Cysteine in Batch and Flow

A mild visible‐light‐mediated strategy for cysteine arylation is presented. The method relies on the use of eosin Y as a metal‐free photocatalyst and aryldiazonium salts as arylating agents. The reaction can be significantly accelerated in a microflow reactor, whilst allowing the in situ formation of the required diazonium salts. The batch and flow protocol described herein can be applied to obtain a broad series of arylated cysteine derivatives and arylated cysteine‐containing dipeptides. Moreover, the method was applied to the chemoselective arylation of a model peptide in biocompatible reaction conditions (room temperature, phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS) buffer) within a short reaction time.     

Catanionic Coacervate Droplets as a Surfactant‐Based Membrane‐Free Protocell Model

We report on the formation of surfactant‐based complex catanionic coacervate droplets in mixtures of decanoic acid and cetylpyridinium chloride or cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. We show that coacervation occurs over a broad range of composition, pH, and ionic strength. The catanionic coacervates consist of elongated micelles, sequester a wide range of solutes including water‐soluble organic dyes, polysaccharides, proteins, enzymes, and DNA, and can be structurally stabilized by sodium alginate or gelatin‐based hydrogelation. These results suggest that catanionic coacervates could be exploited as a novel surfactant‐based membrane‐free protocell model.