Chiral polymerization and amplification in closed systems

The Wattis-Coveney model of symmetry breaking in chiral polymerization is adapted and truncated to closed systems and its numerical solutions explored starting from fixed initial amounts of each of the two chiral monomers but zero concentrations of substrate and chains. Chiral amplification results from a strict redistribution of the available monomers and this is quantified through chain-length dependent enantiomeric excesses ee and through molar fractions of the stereoisomer subgroups formed as a result of the competition between chirally pure polymerization and enantiomeric cross inhibition. (C) 2010 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.