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Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Enzymatic Cascade Reactions for the Synthesis of Chiral Amino Alcohols from L-lysine
Published on: February 16, 2018
Autocatalytic symmetry breaking and chiral amplification in a feedback network combining amino acid synthesis and
Paul G Higgs1,2, Donna G Blackmond2
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada.
Abstract:
A kinetic model coupling prebiotically plausible synthesis of enantioenriched proteinogenic amino acids with catalytic peptide ligation leads to an autocatalytic network that may exhibit symmetry breaking and chiral amplification, providing a feasible route to the emergence of biological homochirality. We show that symmetry breaking leading to chiral amplification can occur in two ways: a constructive mechanism in which dimers catalyze the synthesis of monomers of the same enantiomer, and a destructive mechanism in which dimers catalyze the breakdown of monomers of the opposite enantiomer.
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