%0 Journal Article
%A Viedma Molero, Cristóbal
%T Formation of peptide bonds from metastable versus crystalline phase: implications for the origin of life
%D 2000
%@ 0169-6149
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/57567
%X Formation of peptide bonds was attempted by thermal activation of dry amino acids fromaqueous solution that simulated prebiotic evaporative environments. The evaporation trend of aminoacids solutions shows a bifurcation and can lead to either a crystalline phase (near equilibrium) or ametastable non-crystalline phase (far from equilibrium). Only amino acids in this metastable phaseare able to form peptide bonds by thermal activation at temperatures that are generated by solarradiation today. We suggest that this metastable phase is the ideal initial material to trigger aminoacid assemblage with protein-like structure because provide the driving force (supersaturation) foran intense interaction between monomers of different amino acids and allows activation of thesemonomers in plausible prebiotic conditions.
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