minerals Article Thermodynamic Impact of Mineral Surfaces on Amino Acid Polymerization: Aspartate Dimerization on Two-Line Ferrihydrite, Anatase, and γ-Alumina Norio Kitadai 1,2,*, Kumiko Nishiuchi 2 and Wataru Takahagi 1,3 1 Super-cutting-edge Grand and Advanced Research (SUGAR) Program, Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avant-garde Research (X-star), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Yokosuka 237-0061, Japan;
[email protected] 2 Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan;
[email protected] 3 Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: The presence of amino acids in diverse extraterrestrial materials has suggested that amino acids are widespread in our solar system, serving as a common class of components for the chemical evolution of life. However, there are a limited number of parameters available for modeling amino acid polymerization at mineral–water interfaces, although the interfacial conditions inevitably exist on astronomical bodies with surface liquid water. Here, we present a set of extended triple-layer model parameters for aspartate (Asp) and aspartyl-aspartate (AspAsp) adsorptions on two-line ferrihydrite, anatase, and γ-alumina determined based on the experimental adsorption data. By combining the parameters with the reported thermodynamic constants for amino acid polymerization in water, we computationally demonstrate how these minerals impact the AspAsp/Asp equilibrium over a wide range of environmental conditions. It was predicted, for example, that two-line ferrihydrite strongly Citation: Kitadai, N.; Nishiuchi, K.; Takahagi, W.