The structure and reactivity of alkyl esters of several α-amino acids self-assembled at the air/water interface have been investigated as part of our studies on mechanisms that are possibly relevant for the generation of homochiral prebiotic peptides. Grazing incidence X- ray diffraction (GIXD) studies of monolayers of racemic and enantiopure alkyl esters and thio- esters of alanine on the water surface demonstrated that these racemates self-assemble ...
