Table 1. Relative autocatalytic efficiency of the nine experimental nodes in isolated reactions.

Product	k1 (kuncat), M-1·s-1	Km, μM	k6 (kcat), s-1	k6/Km, M-1·s-1	Krel*	Score†
T5	0.08	130	0.09	690	69	8.4
T2	0.10	320	0.09	280	22	6.9
T8	0.09	860	0.10	120	11	5.7
T3	0.09	990	0.08	80	7.1	4.8
T7	0.10	970	0.03	31	2.5	4.8
T6	0.13	1,000	0.04	40	2.5	4.5
T9	0.10	1,000	0.02	20	1.6	4.2
T1	0.08	970	0.01	10	1.0	3.0
T4					<1‡	2.4

^¶The kinetic parameters obtained from fitting the rates of product formation to template-assisted ligation reaction model (25) (see Fig. 12) using the program simfit (34).

^*K_rel equal to the [(k₆/K_m)/k₁] for each reaction divided by [(k₆/K_m)/k₁] of the slowest measurable reaction (to make T₁).

^†Values are in kcal/mol, calculated by using the scoring method described in the text for each homotrimer catalyst-product complex.

^‡No intermediate species was detected.