Adsorption of L-amino Acids on Sea Sand

a study of adsorption of l-alanine, l-tyrosine, l-glutamic acid, and l-lysine on sea sand was carried out. only l-lysine showed adsorption on sea sand, probably due to the presence of the positively charged r group. our results raise some doubts as to whether sand was important for the pre-concentration of amino acids prior to peptide condensation on the pre-biotic earth.