Interaction of Amino Acids with Clay Minerals and Their Relevance to Chemical Evolution and the Origins of Life

摘要

Adsorption of dl-aspartic acid, dl-leucine, dl-lysine and dl-serine in aqueous solution on halosite, hectorite, illite, kaolinite, nantronite and montmorillonite is described. Interaction was studied at neutral pH (7.1+0.01) and room temperature (30+1°C).The progress of adsorption was followed spectrophotometrically by measuring the absorbance of amino acids solution at their corresponding λmax. Leucine and aspartic acid are found to have maximum and minimum adsorption respectively on all clay minerals studied. The Laugmuir type of adsorption is followed in the concentration range 10?3–10?4 M of amino acids solution. Amino acids and mineral surfaces are considered to have played important role in peptide formation during the course of chemical evolution in the primeval sea.