> ...or other structures that can store and process information.

Relay computers can be constructed primarily from iron... relay solenoids, ferrit memory, coils, conductors, contacts... only energy sources seem to need some other elements...

Why would you expect to know of any candidates? It's not like we've done a ton of research into complex polymer chemistry in liquid iron solvents.

I suspect that the internals of stars, somewhere in the photosphere, can contain rather complex structures, due to the very high pressure and electric / magnetic fields. Those could even be a self-sustained "life" in the sense the Conway's game, or maybe even more complex.

Molecular bonds may happen not the only medium supporting simple automata. From them, something more complex has a chance to develop.

From the chemistry we’re aware of on earth, sure. But I imagine the energies required for our water cycle based life would look astronomical compared to the energies available in a place like Pluto.

This sounds like a cool problem space for computational chemistry.

You say it like that instability is a bad thing.

As Musk might say, if you want to build a robust and efficient factory for complex machines, iterate, iterate, iterate.

It's easier to look for conditions we already know can lead to life.

Not really qualified to answer you, but I commonly read that it boils down to carbon being the base for life on earth, because that material can form complex bonds with so many other elements, without requiring much energy to do so. No other element seems to come close, though another contender is silicon. But if we assume carbon as the base component of other life, we also have to assume similar ranges of temperature etc. for it to thrive.

There's been a lot of work done on alternate biochemistries. Most of the alternate chemistries that look practical are at low temperatures, not high ones, because high temperatures inherently break down complex molecules.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothetical_types_of_biochemi..., or look up Cronin's work on metal-based self-replicating structures.