화학공학소재연구정보센터
Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.134, No.16, 6887-6892, 2012
Evidence for the Likely Origin of Homochirality in Amino Acids, Sugars, and Nucleosides on Prebiotic Earth
Over the past century, the origin of terrestrial prebiotic homochirality has been the subject of much speculation. For life to start on Earth and elsewhere, it is critical that the building blocks of amino acids, sugars, and nucleosides be created in predominant homochiral form. Recent findings of a modest excess L chirality of alpha-methyl amino acids in some meteorites that landed on Earth have furnished an important piece of evidence. We have shown how these meteoritic components can furnish normal L-amino acids, and therefrom D-sugars and D-nucleosides, in high chiral excess under sensible prebiotic conditions. Some important remaining goals are also described.