The relevance of inorganic nonlinear chemical reactions for the origin of life studies

We discuss the fundamental role played by nonlinear inorganic chemical reactions to understand the minimal conditions for the origin of life. In particular, we propose a focus on the chemo-physical processes that modulate the interplay between self-organisation and self-assembly at the basis of important life-like functionalities. We present results about two proofs-of-concept that support this view. The first pertains the collective behaviours and patterns obtained from networks of autonomous inorganic oscillators confined in self-assembled structures and coupled via chemical communication. The second shows how a specific autocatalytic reaction can trigger conformational changes of self-assembled structures, giving rise to membrane self-division processes.