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Chemistry

Shattered mirrors

Nature volume 419, pages 346–347 (2002)Cite this article

How did the preference for 'single-handedness' in biological molecules arise? Amplification of the trace imbalance in a mixture of handed molecules bolsters the case for chance being the answer.

Some molecules are chiral — they exist in two forms that are mirror images of each other, right-handed and left-handed. Thus it seems reasonable that reactions that form chiral molecules from purely achiral precursors should produce equal amounts of each handed form to preserve achiral symmetry. So how did biological processes develop a preference for one or the other, such as left-handed amino acids, and right-handed sugars? In the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Singleton and Vo1 report that, starting from two achiral compounds, they have prepared a chiral product in which one handed form dominates over the other. Have they demonstrated a fundamental principle that explains the mystery surrounding the predominance of a particular handedness in biomolecules?

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  1. Department of Chemistry, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, 92093-0358, California, USA

    Jay S. Siegel

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  1. Jay S. Siegel
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Correspondence to Jay S. Siegel.

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Siegel, J. Shattered mirrors. Nature 419, 346–347 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/419346a

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