Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 1, 2025
09:14
Enzymatic Cascade Reactions for the Synthesis of Chiral Amino Alcohols from L-lysine
Published on: February 16, 2018
12.2K
From a coenzyme-like mechanism to homochirality
Osmel Martín1, Yoelsy Leyva2, José Suárez-Lezcano3
1Laboratorio de Ciencia Planetaria, Universidad Central "Marta Abreu" de Las Villas, Santa Clara, Cuba.
Bio Systems
|April 23, 2023
Summary
This study proposes a new mechanism for achieving homochirality in vesicles using a coenzyme-like molecule. Low coenzyme levels promote homochirality, while high levels and external flows can destabilize it.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Chemical Kinetics
- Origin of Life Studies
Background:
- Homochirality is a fundamental property of life, but its origin remains a key question in prebiotic chemistry.
- Vesicles are considered plausible compartments for early life, concentrating molecules and facilitating reactions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose and analyze an alternative mechanism for inducing homochirality within a vesicle.
- To investigate the role of a coenzyme-like molecule and transport across the vesicle membrane.
Main Methods:
- A theoretical model involving six chemical species: substrate, enantiomers, coenzyme, and intermediates.
- Analysis of a two-step enantiomer production pathway within a vesicle.
- Modeling selective diffusion of substrate and enantiomers across the vesicle boundary.
Main Results:
- Homochirality is highly dependent on the total amount of coenzyme within the vesicle.
- High coenzyme levels or large external flows can destabilize the homochiral state.
- Low coenzyme concentrations generally favor the emergence of homochirality, influenced by stochastic fluctuations.
Conclusions:
- The proposed coenzyme-like mechanism offers a novel pathway to homochirality in confined systems.
- Stochastic fluctuations in coenzyme levels play a crucial role in amplifying chiral selection.
- Vesicle permeability and coenzyme concentration are critical factors in achieving and maintaining homochirality.
Related Concept Videos
02:05Prochirality
3.8K
The concept of prochirality leads to the nomenclature of the individual faces of a molecule and plays a crucial role in the enantioselective reaction. It is a concept where two or more achiral molecules react to produce chiral products. A typical process is the reaction of an achiral ketone to generate a chiral alcohol. Here, the achiral reactant reacts with an achiral reducing agent, sodium borohydride, to generate an equimolar mixture of the chiral enantiomers of the product. For example, an...
3.8K
02:30Chirality in Nature
13.6K
Chirality is the most intriguing yet essential facet of nature, governing life’s biochemical processes and precision. It can be observed from a snail shell pattern in a macroscopic world to an amino acid, the minutest building block of life. Most of the snails around the world have right-coiled shells because of the intrinsic chirality in their genes. All the amino acids present in the human body exist in an enantiomerically pure state, except for glycine - the sole achiral amino acid.
13.6K
02:25Chirality
24.5K
Chirality is a term that describes the lack of mirror symmetry in an object. In other words, chiral objects cannot be superposed on their mirror images. For example, our feet are chiral, as the mirror image of the left foot, the right foot, cannot be superposed on the left foot.
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...
24.5K
02:25Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers
11.9K
Molecules that possess multiple chiral centers can afford a large number of stereoisomers. For instance, while some molecules like 2-butanol have one chiral center, defined as a tetrahedral carbon atom with four different substituents attached, several molecules like butane-2,3-diol have multiple chiral centers. A simple formula to predict the number of stereoisomers possible for a molecule with n chiral centers is 2n. However, there can be a lower number where some of the stereoisomers are...
11.9K
02:34Regioselectivity and Stereochemistry of Acid-Catalyzed Hydration
8.6K
The rate of acid-catalyzed hydration of alkenes depends on the alkene's structure, as the presence of alkyl substituents at the double bond can significantly influence the rate.
8.6K
02:23SN2 Reaction: Stereochemistry
9.7K
In an SN2 reaction, the nucleophilic attack on the substrate and departure of the leaving group occurs simultaneously through a transition state. As the nucleophile approaches the substrate from the back-side, the configuration of the substrate carbon changes from tetrahedral to trigonal bipyramidal and then back to tetrahedral, leading to an inversion in the configuration of the product.
If the substrate is an achiral molecule at the α-carbon, the inversion of configuration is not...
If the substrate is an achiral molecule at the α-carbon, the inversion of configuration is not...
9.7K