Bipartite phase

Consider the Al-S system shown in Figure 11.8. This phase diagram displays several features that are typical of many binary metal chalcogenides. There is only one stoichiometric line compound (bipartite phase) at room temperature, AI2S3. However, at one atm. 

The competition among protocells for membrane components could drive rapid evolution of sophisticated membranes. While fatty acids were likely to be available through prebiotic synthesis, the synthesis of phospholipids may have required enzymatic activity, such as a ribozyme that could catalyse condensation of fatty acids with phosphate head groups. If such an activity arose, protocells containing phospholipids would be able to hold on to their fatty acids more tightly, in the sense that the rate constant for dissociation of the fatty acids from the bulk phase is reduced by the presence of the bipartite lipid. In addition, the dissociation rate for bipartite lipids themselves is also much lower than that of fatty acids. Both effects... 

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