Aniline-terminated DNA catalyzes rapid DNA–hydrazone formation at physiological pH

We report the effect of DNA-templation on aniline-catalyzed N-acylhydrazone formation. The reaction occurs in both two-component and three-component systems. Through systematic catalyst modifications, we are able to increase the efficiency of the DNA-templated variant to 85-fold above that of the uncatalyzed reaction at physiological pH.