Formation versus Hydrolysis of the Peptide Bond from a Quantum-mechanical Viewpoint: The Role of Mineral Surfaces and Implications for the Origin of Life

The condensation (polymerization by water elimination) of molecular building blocks to yield the first active biopolymers (e.g. of amino acids to form peptides) during primitive Earth is an intriguing question that nowadays still remains open since these processes are thermodynamically disfavoured i...

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Bibliographic Details
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2009-02-01
Series:International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/10/3/746/