Kinetic analysis of hydrolytic reaction of homo- and heterochiral adenylyl(3'-5')adenosine isomers: breaking homochirality reduces hydrolytic stability of RNA.

The hydrolytic stability of the diastereomeric isomers of ApA was compared and the results show that heterochiral ApAs are more rapidly hydrolyzed than homochiral ApAs at low temperatures, suggesting that hydrolytic selection in cold environments in conjunction with selective polymerization may have been effective in enriching the homochirality of RNA.