Weber, Arthur

Weber, Arthur L., and U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Oligoglyceric Acid Synthesis by Autocondensation of Glyceroyl Thioester. NASA Contractor Report, NASA CR-177130. Washington, D.C. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Technical Information Service distributor, 1986. 

Arthur L. Weber (1998), now working at the Seti Institute of the Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, reports the successful synthesis of amino acid thioesters from formose substrates (formaldehyde and glycolaldehyde) and ammonia synthesis of alanine and homoserine was possible when thiol catalysts were added to the reaction mixture. On the basis of his experimental results, Weber (1998) suggests the process shown in Fig. 7.10 to be a general prebiotic route to amino acid thioesters. 

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