Esters of proteinogenic amino acids efficiently catalyse the formation of erythrose and threose under potentially prebiotic conditions in the highest yields and enantioselectivities yet reported. Remarkably while esters of (L)-proline yield (L)-tetroses, esters of (L)-leucine, (L)-alanine and (L)-valine generate (D)-tetroses, offering the potential to account for the link between natural (L)-amino acids and natural (D)-sugars. The effect of pH and NaCl on the yields and enantioselectivities was also investigated and was shown to be significant, with the optimal enantioselectivities occurring at pH 7.
在潜在的前
生物条件下,蛋白
氨基酸的
酯类能有效催化赤藓糖和苏糖的生成,其产量和对映体选择性均为目前所报道的最高
水平。值得注意的是,(L)-脯
氨酸的酯会生成(L)-四糖,而(L)-亮
氨酸、(L)-丙
氨酸和(L)-缬
氨酸的酯会生成(D)-四糖,这为解释天然(L)-
氨基酸和天然(D)-糖之间的联系提供了可能。研究还考察了 pH 值和 NaCl 对产率和对映体选择性的影响,结果表明,pH 值为 7 时对映体选择性最佳。