Extended Data Fig. 6: Mass spectroscopy of the formose reaction in droplets and in bulk.

Mass spectrum of a, droplets containing standard formose reagents plus 0.2 M glycolaldehyde (C2 droplets) after 1 h incubation at 40 °C. b, Mass spectra of b, large (growing) and c, small (shrinking) droplets after 1 h incubation at 40 °C of a 1:1 mixture of droplets containing standard formose reagents plus 0.2 M glycolaldehyde (C2 droplets) or with no glycolaldehyde (no-C2 droplets) and pinched-flow size fractionation of droplets (see Extended Data Fig. 5f). A priori large droplets are C2 droplets and small droplets are no-C2 droplets. d, bulk reaction of standard formose reagents plus 0.2 M glycolaldehyde (C2) after 1 h incubation at 40 °C. e, bulk reaction of 1 M C1 and 0.2 M C2 (no TMG, no CaCl₂) after 1 h incubation at 40 °C. f, bulk reaction with standard formose reagents (no C2) after 1 h incubation at 40 °C. Values of m/z and peak assignments of Cn sugars are indicated (n = number of carbon atoms). See also Supplementary Figs. 4–12 and Supplementary Table 3.