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Chirality of Living Systems: A Helping Hand from Crystals and Oligopeptides
Author(s) -
Cintas Pedro
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/1521-3773(20020402)41:7<1139::aid-anie1139>3.0.co;2-9
Subject(s) - chirality (physics) , oligopeptide , communication , materials science , psychology , physics , quantum mechanics , nuclear magnetic resonance , chiral symmetry , peptide , quark , nambu–jona lasinio model
Left–right asymmetry is ubiquitous in nature. Recent studies reveal changes in the energy and growth rate of crystal surfaces to which D or L amino acids bind, with the binding itself being dictated by stereochemical matching. Likewise, oligomerization of amino acids appears to be a chiroselective process that enables the propagation of sequences with defined handedness.[[For a definition of chiroselective self‐assembly, see: M. Bolli, R. Micura, A. Eschenmoser, Chem. Biol. 1997 , 4 , 309–320.]] These results, along with related findings on symmetry breaking and further amplification of asymmetry at a supramolecular level, constitute new insights into the origin of homochirality in living species.