Figure 1: Physical autocatalysis in micelles.
From: Physical autocatalysis driven by a bond-forming thiol–ene reaction
(a) Schematic representation of physical autocatalysis. Species separated by a phase boundary react at the interface; the reaction is catalysed by the formation of product aggregates that allow species in each phase to mix. (b–e) Previous examples of physical autocatalysis can be divided into three classes of reaction, illustrated here with representative examples. Schemes are simplified to emphasize the reaction partners and the catalytically active product. (b) General principle of physical autocatalysis: a biphasic reaction generates surfactant products that autocatalyse the reaction; (c) Hydrolysis, typically of anhydrides, esters or imines (example from ref. 35); (d) Simple oxidation (example from ref. 23); (e) Reversible imine condensation under thermodynamic control (example from ref. 24); (f) This work, demonstrating physical autocatalysis in an irreversible bond-forming reaction.
