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Spontaneous chiral separation in noncovalent molecular clusters
Author(s) -
Hodyss Robert,
Julian Ryan R.,
Beauchamp J. L.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
chirality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.43
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1520-636X
pISSN - 0899-0042
DOI - 10.1002/chir.10021
Subject(s) - chemistry , homochirality , chirality (physics) , non covalent interactions , enantiomer , trimer , histone octamer , cluster (spacecraft) , protonation , stereochemistry , chemical physics , computational chemistry , crystallography , molecule , organic chemistry , chiral symmetry breaking , hydrogen bond , symmetry breaking , dimer , histone , ion , computer science , biochemistry , quantum mechanics , nucleosome , nambu–jona lasinio model , programming language , physics , gene
A new method is introduced to determine the extent to which spontaneous chiral separation occurs in small noncovalently bound clusters. Soft‐sampling electrospray ionization was used to transfer noncovalent complexes from solution to the gas phase. Mixing D and L enantiomers with one of the pair isotopically labeled reveals the effect of chirality on cluster stability. The observed cluster distribution is compared to the predicted statistical distribution to determine any preference for homo‐ or heterochirality. Arginine, for example, forms a stable trimer with no preference for the chirality of the individual amino acids. Serine, however, forms a protonated octamer with a pronounced preference for homochirality. The implications of these results for the structures of the complexes are discussed along with the broader implications for the origins of homochirality in living systems (homochirogenesis). Chirality 13:703–706, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
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