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1 Wiadomości Chemiczne

1 1998

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Wojciechowski P., Gancarz R.

Wiadomości Chemiczne

1998

[Z] 52, 9-10

699--711

It is well known that living organisms show strong enantiometric selectivity on their molecular level. The enantiomorphic discrimination is sometimes manifested in the shape of an animal or plant. It was Pasteur who in 1857 discovered that the chemistry of life had a preferred handedness. 'Life is manifested to us as a function of the dyssymmetry of the universe' he wrote. Pasteur's work was carried out before the recognition of the quadrivalence of the carbon by Kekuléand Couper (1858). He did far more than simply discover the underlying theory of molecular asymmetry, he foresaw most of the consequences of that theory, he understood the principle of a transference of the asymmetric property from one set of molecules to another. Finally he clearly understood the biological implications of the discovery of asymmetry. The theory of organic stereochemistry has been established independently by Van't Hoff and Le Bell in 1874. Now, very frequently we have the question why there is no 'mirror life'. Would not biochemistry like ours with every configuration inverted be just as good? Was our way better or lucky? In 1957 it was found that mirror symmetry is broken on the subatomic level. Some elementary particles, like neutrino, exist only as left-handed objects. Thus, in fact, there are no exact enantiomers in our world. They are rather diastereoisomers of different energy. Thus, our mirror images friends living on the other side of the looking glass, with all the biological molecules with opposite configurations would not be as perfect as we are.