INVESTIGATION ON THE MECHANISM OF PEPTIDE-CHAIN PROLONGATION ON MONTMORILLONITE

Experiments with reduced-charge montmorillonites with gradually collap sed interlayer space prove that peptide formation processes occur main ly at the edges of the clay mineral. Activation of peptides and amino acids and the intermediate formation of cyclic anhydrides are found to be the two dominant processes determining the formation of higher pep tides on the mineral surface.