In a 2024 Nature paper, Donna Blackmond’s group showed that isomers of these molecules form insoluble AB dimers, leading to kinetic resolution. An octamer of one of these molecules that forms a “magic cluster” in ESI mass spec can direct chiral transmission. A weak neutral current that violates the parity of enantiomers of these molecules is autocatalytically amplified in S. F. Mason’s interpretation of the Frank model. Laboratory synthesis of these molecules forms racemates unless (*) cyanide adds to an iminium asymmetrically before it’s hydrolyzed. The first asymmetric aldol reaction used one of these molecules as the organocatalyst. The Murchison meteorite was enriched in these molecules’ L-enantiomers, though natural ones are almost entirely left-handed on Earth. For 10 points, name these chiral molecules that make up proteins. ■END■
ANSWER: amino acids [accept L-amino acids or D-amino acids; prompt on amines; prompt on carboxylic acids; prompt on chiral molecules or enantiomers until “chiral” is read; reject “proteins”]
<S, Chemistry>
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