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Meteoritic C α ‐Methylated α‐Amino Acids and the Homochirality of Life: Searching for a Link
Author(s) -
Crisma Marco,
Moretto Alessandro,
Formaggio Fernando,
Kaptein Bernard,
Broxterman Quirinus B.,
Toniolo Claudio
Publication year - 2004
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/anie.200460908
Subject(s) - homochirality , amino acid , enantiomer , chemistry , meteorite , abiogenesis , enantiomeric excess , stereochemistry , astrobiology , enantioselective synthesis , organic chemistry , biochemistry , catalysis , biology
Catch a falling star : Peptides from chiral, C α ‐methylated α‐amino acids (see scheme) found in L enantiomeric excess in meteorites show diastereoselectivity when reacting with racemic proteinogenic amino acids. Accordingly, the prebiotic soup of proteinogenic amino acids may have evolved into a chirally unbalanced system, eventually seeding the homochirality of life.