On the Possible Role of Montmorillonites in Prebiotic Peptide Formation

Article abstract of DOI:10.1007/BF00811510

The ability of montmorillonite clay minerals for catalyzing peptide formation from amino acids in aqueous solution has been investigated using glycine and Cu(2+) and Ca(2+) containing montmorillonites as reaction systems.Evaporation cycle experiments showed that minor amounts of di- and tripeptide are formed from the amino acid.Further polymerization of dipeptide, however, seems to be more favoured by this reaction system than the initial step of dipeptide formation, and a possible role of clays in prebiotic peptide evolution could be seen therefore in the prolongation of peptide chains.Cu(2+) ions in the clay matrix did not show any advantage over the usual Ca(2+) ions embedded in natural montmorillonite. - Keywords: Prebiotic peptide formation; Evolution; Clay catalysis.