Stereoselective aminoacylation of a dinucleoside monophosphate by the imidazolides of DL-alanine and N-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-DL-alanine.

The aminoacylation of diinosine monophosphate (IpI) was studied. When the acylating agent was the imidazolide of N-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-DL-alanine, a 40% enantiomeric excess of the L isomer was incorporated at the internal 2' site and the positions of equilibrium for the 2' in equilibrium with 3' migration reaction differed for the D and L enantiomers. The reactivity of the nucleoside hydroxyl groups decreased in the order 2'(3') greater than internal 2' greater than 5', and the extent of reaction was affected by the concentration of the imidazole buffer (pH 7.1). In contrast, reaction of IpI with the imidazolide of unprotected DL-alanine led to an excess of the D isomer at the internal 2' site, while reaction with the N-carboxy anhydride of DL-alanine proceeded without detectable stereoselection. The relevance of these results to the evolution of optical activity and the origin of genetically directed protein synthesis is discussed.