Theories on the Origin of Biomolecular Homochirality

Abstract

From the discovery of dissymmetric crystals by Louis Pasteur in 1848, the conclusion was drawn that there exist dissymmetric molecular structures [1]. Their occurrence was explained by allpervasive and universal dissymmetric forces. Michael Faraday’s discovery [2] that inactive materials such as glass show optical activity in a magnetic field, convinced Pasteur that the well-known classical polar fields are basically dissymmetric. However, all his related chemical experiments failed [3]. Pasteur’s term dissymétrie was replaced later by the notion chirality, which was introduced by Kelvin, who adopted it from the familiar analogy of the morphological mirror-image relation between the left and the right hand [4].