Liyan Jia, Zhen Ji, Yan-ming Ji, Chengcheng Zhou*, Guo-wen Xing*, Yan Qiao*

ChemSystemsChem 2020, 2, e2000044.

Liquid-liquid phase separation has been recognized as an approach to realize cellular compartmentalization and create subdivisions of intracellular space into functional membraneless organelles. Multiphase coacervate droplets with complex, nested inner phases as a generic phenomenon are known to be involved in significant biochemical processes and facilitate specific functions. Herein, we present a strategy to develop molecular self-sorting complexation that leads to the formation of lipid-rich sub-compartments in membraneless coacervate microdroplets. We also show the specific localization of hydrophobic lipid domains within multiphase hydrophilic droplets by an aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-active molecule. We anticipate that the design of fluorescently localized self-sorting liquid droplets will shed light on the research of mimicking multicompartalized organelles and help to understand dynamic reorganization of sub-divided space in protocell systems.