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Polypeptide formation on polar mineral surfaces: possibility of complete chirality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2015

Malcolm E. Schrader
Malcolm E. Schrader*
Affiliation:
Institute of Chemistry, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
*
e-mail: schrader@mail.huji.ac.il
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Abstract

In the present work, it is shown that thermodynamically feasible polymerization of cyanomethanol, which can be formed from formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide, can lead to synthesis of polypeptides as well as to the previously reported synthesis of RNA. If the polymerization takes place on a one-dimensional feature of a mineral, such as for example a crack on its surface, the concept of quasi-chirality is introduced to describe the adsorbed polypeptide. This, in principle, would lead to formation of proteins that are completely homochiral in their alpha carbon groups. The concept of quasi-chirality can also be introduced in the condensation of glycine under similar conditions to form a polypeptide. This again leads to proteins completely chiral in their alpha carbon groups.

Keywords

chiralitycyanomethanolprebiotic synthesisproteinspolypeptidesRNA
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , January 2017 , pp. 10 - 13
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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