Affinity of Metal Ions Incorporated Bentonite for Enantiomeric Interactions with Alanine

08 September 2017, Version 1
This content is a preprint and has not undergone peer review at the time of posting.

Abstract

To find the prebiotic route of homochirality present in amino acids, considering the abiotic evolution of life, surface interaction of L-alanine (L-ala) and D-alanine (D-ala) on Bentonite (BNT) and its divalent metal ion (M=Ca2+, Mg2+, Ni2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+) incorporated BNT has been carried out.Further, absolute value of metal ion affinities with ala (ala—M2+) and hydration effect on the relative stability and geometry of the individual species of ala— M2+×(H2O)n, (n =2 and 4) has also been evaluated using DFT calculation. Interestingly Mg2+ exchanged BNT have shown the selective adsorption of L-ala in comparison to the D-ala at pH 4.0±0.1. These results can help us to understand chemical evolution of life and design our future experiments for the in-depth evaluation of origin of life in Earth and possibility of bio-markers in other planets like Mars.

Keywords

Homochirality
Bentonite
Enantiomer
Surface Interaction
Origin of Life
Astrobiology
Abiotic evolution of life
Chemistry

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