Stochastic "mirror symmetry breaking" via self-assembly, reactivity and amplification of chirality: Relevance to abiotic conditions

Abstract

Theories of prebiotic life suggest that homochirality emerged in Nature in abiotic times via deterministic or chance scenarios. This chapter deals with experiments demonstrating the feasibility of stochastic mirror symmetry breaking that occurs via autocatalytic processes involving the self-assembly of molecular clusters, 2-D and 3-D crystals, supramolecular organo-metallic catalysts, and polymeric helices and sheets. Once generated spontaneously by chance, chirality can be preserved and propagated to the environment provided that the symmetry breaking step is coupled with a sequential step of efficient amplification via self-replication reactions. Common features for the systems of relevance are that they take into consideration small fluctuations from the racemic state, and they display non-linear kinetic effects induced by diastereoisomeric supramolecular self-assemblies that exhibit different physical or chemical properties.