Is Life Based on Chirality of Pentavalent Elements Possible? Resolution of Stable Isomers, Enantiomers and Diastereomers of Pentavalent Nitrogen

Abstract

V-valent elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and several others fulfill requirements for chirality. In the system on Earth, and with the present thermodynamic conditions—pressure, temperature, radiation, and others—the carbon atom’s chirality is the primary factor in the creation of living creatures. However, even in our galaxy and surely elsewhere in the universe, there are places with very different temperatures, pressure, radiation and other conditions for life that differ from our model. Life on Earth in its present forms would not be imaginable if the average temperature was above 60°C because of instability in DNA, RNA, and protein molecules at such a temperature. Humankind is stuck in the doctrine that life must look like the model we are familiar with or be similar. However, other elements with the ability to create a stable chiral molecule can create an array of stable substances that can exist at higher temperatures and pressure, a different radiation level, and even in a sulfuric acid environment. The mentioned conditions do not exclude low solar radiation, low temperatures, high/low pressure or an acidic nitrogen/basic nitrogen environment. The universe is endless, but our imagination is limited by religious or materialistic indoctrination. The necessity to study V-valent chiral elements that are part of complex stable molecules even in our system and to examine their stability or that of similar molecules at extreme conditions is clear. This paper presents several stable chiral substances with V-valent nitrogen. Intelligent life based on chirality besides that of chiral carbon is possible.