In the transition of Chemical Evolution to prokaryotic cells, phospholipids had a critical role. The properties exhibited by phospholipids that were essential to the appearance of life include:

1. Phospholipids have a polar end (charged) and a non-polar (neutral) end.
2. Spontaneous organization into a bilayer that separates the internal and external water environment.
3. The ability to allow neutral "R groups of a polypeptide to embed into the Fatty Acid layer.
4. The use of embedded proteins to regulate the movement of molecules into and out of the cell.
5. All of these are true.