| Grant number: | 13/25210-8 |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral |
| Start date: | March 01, 2014 |
| End date: | February 29, 2016 |
| Field of knowledge: | Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Physical-Chemistry |
| Principal Investigator: | Alejandro López Castillo |
| Grantee: | Emerson Paulinho Boscheto |
| Host Institution: | Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil |
Abstract The search for mechanisms to break the chiral symmetry in a system involving a pair of enantiomers has become an active area of research, either to understand the origin of biomolecular homochirality or to produce substances that functionally interact with living organisms. The success of this endeavor can be aided by modeling and numerical simulations of reaction networks that display chiral symmetry breaking features. These tools enable to characterize the possible stability regimes of these networks and to determine the most favorable conditions where the amplification of enantiomeric excess (EE) tends to be observed. It is proposed in this project the theoretical study, via deterministic and stochastic approaches, of the asymmetric production of enantiomers (spontaneous and by perturbation) in open systems through the exploration of models of mechanisms for chiral polymerization reactions subject to thermodynamic fluctuations (which gain importance by reducing the number of particles of the system) and containing autocatalytic steps (capable of efficiently amplifying a small initial EE). In the deterministic model, governed by differential equations, one can add ad hoc statistical fluctuations, while in the case of stochastic approach they are intrinsic to the method. The study will be divided into five parts: (i) the deterministic investigation of polymerization reaction networks initially restricted to dimerization and (ii) without this restriction; (iii) the consideration of spatial dimensions in the models to account for diffusion effects; (iv) the consideration of external influences such as perturbations in temperature or concentration of some species; and (v) the stochastic approach of previous cases. | |
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