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Peptide Formation mediated by Cyanate

Abstract

CHEMICAL reactions of the sort that might have produced peptides from amino acids on the primitive Earth can be catalysed by kaolinite1, montmorillonite2, hydroxyapatite3–5 and condensed phosphates6–8 Hydroxyapatite has been suggested as a source of condensed phosphates because it yields pyrophosphate when reacted with cyanate9. For this reason, and because phosphates polymerize amino acids, we have investigated whether peptide formation can be enhanced by cyanate added to hydroxyapatite or orthophosphates. After we reported our preliminary results (at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington DC in September 1971), Choughuley et al.10 confirmed that orthophosphates catalysed the condensation of amino acids to peptides.

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FLORES, J., LECKIE, J. Peptide Formation mediated by Cyanate. Nature 244, 435–437 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/244435a0

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