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Far from equilibrium synthesis of “prebiotic” polymers
Author(s) -
Babloyantz Agnessa
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
biopolymers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.556
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1097-0282
pISSN - 0006-3525
DOI - 10.1002/bip.1972.360111113
Subject(s) - autocatalysis , chemistry , autocatalytic reaction , prebiotic , biopolymer , population , polymer , chain (unit) , thermodynamics , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , catalysis , statistical physics , physics , biochemistry , demography , sociology , astronomy , engineering
The existing experimental data on prebiotic nonenzymic biopolymer synthesis is used to construct a model which shows autocatalysis and highly nonlinear behavior. It is shown that far from thermodynamic equilibrium such systems may exhibit multiple steady states favoring the enhancement of the polymer population in the medium. The role of step by step chain propagation and template directed autocatalysis are studied and contrasted.