ISSN:
1432-1432
Keywords:
Asymmetric Polymerization
;
Origin of Optical Activity
;
Kaolin
;
Aspartic Acid
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
Summary Two recent reports in the literature claim thatl-aspartic acid polymerizes significantly faster thand-aspartic acid in the presence of kaolin in aqueous solution at 90°. The novelty of these observations and their potential significance for molecular evolution and the origin of optical activity in nature has prompted us to attempt a duplication of the experiments involved—using, however, analytical criteria which we felt would be more reliable than those previously employed. In our experimentsl- andd,l-aspartic acid in 0.01M solution were incubated with kaolin at 90° for 8 days. Careful examination of the aqueous residues from such experiments, however, failed to demonstrate any preferential polymerization ofl- overd-aspartic acid under the influence of kaolin, or indeed any significant gross polymerization of aspartic acid at all.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01795975
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