Cover Feature: Acid‐Catalyzed RNA‐Oligomerization from 3’,5’‐cGMP (Chem. Eur. J. 70/2021)

Heat, protons and a dry crystalline material are the three prerequisites for oligonucleotide synthesis from acid‐form 3′,5′‐cyclic guanosine monophosphate monomers. The process is believed to play a role in the abiotic generation of the most ancient RNA molecules on our planet. Now, we show that the reaction is acid‐catalyzed and that the facile crystallization of the monomers is enabled by their distinctly low solubility. The highly ordered supramolecular architecture present in the monomer crystals provides ideal steric conditions for the formation of intermolecular phosphodiester linkages between the cyclic nucleotide units. More information can be found in the Research Article by D. Braun, J. E. Šponer et al. (DOI: 10.1002/chem.202103672).