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Origin of homochirality in biological systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 September 2005

S. Toxvaerd
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, H. C. Ørsted Institute, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark e-mail: tox@st.ki.ku.dk

Abstract

Models for segregation of racemic mixtures of chiral amphiphiles and lipophiles in aqueous solutions show that the amphiphiles with active isomerization kinetics can perform a spontaneous symmetry break during the segregation and self-assemble to homochiral matter. Based on physico-chemical facts, it is argued that D-glyceraldehyde, which was synthesized from the volatiles at the hydrothermal reactors at the origin of life, could be the origin of homochirality in biological systems.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2005 Cambridge University Press

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