WSEAS Transactions on Biology and Biomedicine
Print ISSN: 1109-9518, E-ISSN: 2224-2902
Volume 12, 2015
A Computational Study of a Prebiotic Synthesis of L-Leucine, L-Isoleucine and L-Proline
Author: N. Aylward
Abstract: The magnesium ion metalloporphyrin complex is shown to bind the ligands pent-1,3-diyne and but-1,3-diyne in weak van der Waals complexes on the metal site and act as a photochemical catalyst. Subsequent reaction of the adducts with ammonia gives amines that easily transform to aziridine derivatives, and ultimately imines bound to the catalyst. When carbon monoxide is also bound to the complex as a high energy compound whose particular structure has been dictated by the magnetic vector of the exciting radiation, reaction occurs to give substituted aziridine-2ones that may easily hydrolyse to the zwitterionic form of the amino acids L-leucine, L-isoleucine, and L-proline. The reactions have been shown to be feasible from the overall enthalpy changes in the ZKE approximation at the HF and MP2 /6-31G* level, and with acceptable activation energies
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Pages: 87-103
WSEAS Transactions on Biology and Biomedicine, ISSN / E-ISSN: 1109-9518 / 2224-2902, Volume 12, 2015, Art. #12