Asymmetric autocatalysis and its implications for the origin of homochirality.

Asymmetric autocatalysis initiated by achiral nucleic acid base adenine: implications on the origin of homochirality of biomolecules.

Enantiomorphous crystals of adeninium dinitrate acted as the source of chirality in asymmetric autocatalysis producing highly enantioenriched (S)- and (R)-5-pyrimidyl alkanols, with the absolute configurations corresponding to that of crystals.

Asymmetric Autocatalysis and the Origin of Homochirality of Biomolecules

Crystal Structure of the Isopropylzinc Alkoxide of Pyrimidyl Alkanol: Mechanistic Insights for Asymmetric Autocatalysis with Amplification of Enantiomeric Excess.

Asymmetric amplification during self-replication is a key feature that is used to explain the origin of homochirality. Asymmetric autocatalysis of pyrimidyl alkanol in the asymmetric addition of diisopropylzinc to pyrimidine-5-carbaldehyde is a unique example of this phenomenon. Crystallization of zinc alkoxides of this 5-pyrimidyl alkanol and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of the al...

Complete homochirality induced by the nonlinear autocatalysis and recycling

A nonlinear autocatalysis of a chiral substance is shown to achieve homochirality in a closed system, if the back-reaction is included. Asymmetry in the concentration of two enantiomers or the enantiometric excess increases due to the nonlinear autocatalysis. Furthermore, when the backreaction is taken into account, the reactant supplied by the decomposition of the enantiomers is recycled to pr...

Kinetic Aspects of Soai ́s Asymmetric Autocatalysis

Recent kinetic studies are discussed that shed light on the reaction mechanism of the autocatalytic addition of diisopropylzinc to pyrimidine carbaldehydes (Soai reaction). Soai’s reaction stands for the exclusive example of chirally autocatalytic reaction system in organic chemistry and has attracted close attention from several viewpoints: as possible account for the origin of biomolecular ho...