Abstract
Our earlier experiments are briefly reviewed, involving the abiotic generation of optical activity by exposure of DL-amino acids to various “chiral” physical forces. The enantiomeric enrichments so obtained were low, however, and additional experiments were undertaken with the objective of abiotically enhancing such small enantiomeric excesses. D≠L Mixtures of leucine N-carboxy anhydride gave enantiomerically enriched polymers on partial polymerization, while valine NCA mixtures behaved oppositely. Leucine polymers were also found to hydrolyze stereoselectively, providing for additional enantiomenic enhancement. A repetitive sequence of partial polymerization-hydrolysis steps is suggested as a possible mechanism for the abiotic genesis of optically enriched polypeptides on the primitive Earth.
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Bonner, W.A., Blair, N.E. & Dirbas, F.M. Experiments on the abiotic amplification of optical activity. Origins Life Evol Biosphere 11, 119–134 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00928003
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00928003