Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Kamioka S
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2818938 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Kamioka Seiji S Ajami Dariush D Rebek Julius J
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20091217 2
The discovery of ribozymes led to the proposal of an RNA world, where a single type of molecule was supposedly capable of self-replication and chemical catalysis. We show here that both autocatalysis and organocatalysis can be engineered into a synthetic structure. The compound is shown to selectively accelerate its own formation and catalyze either hydrogenation or nucleophilic addition to alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes. The observed reactivity indicates that the components of a purported pre ...[more]