Transition metals enhance prebiotic depsipeptide oligomerization reactions involving histidine
Moran Frenkel‐Pinter, Alyssa Sargon, Jennifer B. Glass, Nicholas V. Hud, Loren Dean Williams
Abstract
Biochemistry exhibits an intense dependence on metals. Here we show that during dry-down reactions, zinc and a few other transition metals increase the yield of long histidine-containing depsipeptides, which contain both ester and amide linkages. Our results suggest that interactions of proto-peptides with metal ions influenced early chemical evolution.
Topics & Concepts
DepsipeptideHistidineAmideChemistryTransition metalYield (engineering)ZincMetalCombinatorial chemistryOrganic chemistryStereochemistryAmino acidCatalysisMaterials scienceBiochemistryMetallurgyOrigins and Evolution of LifeSupramolecular Self-Assembly in MaterialsProtein Structure and Dynamics