Uncovering the chiral bias of meteoritic isovaline through asymmetric photochemistry
Abstract Systematic enrichments of l-amino acids in meteorites is a strong indication that biological homochirality originated beyond Earth. Although still unresolved, stellar UV circularly polarized light (CPL) is the leading hypothesis to have caused the symmetry breaking in space. This involves t...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-39177-y |
| _version_ | 1797806645456142336 |
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| author | Jana Bocková Nykola C. Jones Jérémie Topin Søren V. Hoffmann Cornelia Meinert |
| author_facet | Jana Bocková Nykola C. Jones Jérémie Topin Søren V. Hoffmann Cornelia Meinert |
| author_sort | Jana Bocková |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Systematic enrichments of l-amino acids in meteorites is a strong indication that biological homochirality originated beyond Earth. Although still unresolved, stellar UV circularly polarized light (CPL) is the leading hypothesis to have caused the symmetry breaking in space. This involves the differential absorption of left- and right-CPL, a phenomenon called circular dichroism, which enables chiral discrimination. Here we unveil coherent chiroptical spectra of thin films of isovaline enantiomers, the first step towards asymmetric photolysis experiments using a tunable laser set-up. As analogues to amino acids adsorbed on interstellar dust grains, CPL-helicity dependent enantiomeric excesses of up to 2% were generated in isotropic racemic films of isovaline. The low efficiency of chirality transfer from broadband CPL to isovaline could explain why its enantiomeric excess is not detected in the most pristine chondrites. Notwithstanding, small, yet consistent l-biases induced by stellar CPL would have been crucial for its amplification during aqueous alteration of meteorite parent bodies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T06:10:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6136b92c94f144b2a2c940068e19441c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T06:10:25Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-6136b92c94f144b2a2c940068e19441c2023-06-11T11:17:52ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232023-06-011411910.1038/s41467-023-39177-yUncovering the chiral bias of meteoritic isovaline through asymmetric photochemistryJana Bocková0Nykola C. Jones1Jérémie Topin2Søren V. Hoffmann3Cornelia Meinert4Institut de Chimie de Nice (ICN), CNRS UMR 7272, Université Côte d’AzurISA, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus UniversityInstitut de Chimie de Nice (ICN), CNRS UMR 7272, Université Côte d’AzurISA, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus UniversityInstitut de Chimie de Nice (ICN), CNRS UMR 7272, Université Côte d’AzurAbstract Systematic enrichments of l-amino acids in meteorites is a strong indication that biological homochirality originated beyond Earth. Although still unresolved, stellar UV circularly polarized light (CPL) is the leading hypothesis to have caused the symmetry breaking in space. This involves the differential absorption of left- and right-CPL, a phenomenon called circular dichroism, which enables chiral discrimination. Here we unveil coherent chiroptical spectra of thin films of isovaline enantiomers, the first step towards asymmetric photolysis experiments using a tunable laser set-up. As analogues to amino acids adsorbed on interstellar dust grains, CPL-helicity dependent enantiomeric excesses of up to 2% were generated in isotropic racemic films of isovaline. The low efficiency of chirality transfer from broadband CPL to isovaline could explain why its enantiomeric excess is not detected in the most pristine chondrites. Notwithstanding, small, yet consistent l-biases induced by stellar CPL would have been crucial for its amplification during aqueous alteration of meteorite parent bodies.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-39177-y |
| spellingShingle | Jana Bocková Nykola C. Jones Jérémie Topin Søren V. Hoffmann Cornelia Meinert Uncovering the chiral bias of meteoritic isovaline through asymmetric photochemistry Nature Communications |
| title | Uncovering the chiral bias of meteoritic isovaline through asymmetric photochemistry |
| title_full | Uncovering the chiral bias of meteoritic isovaline through asymmetric photochemistry |
| title_fullStr | Uncovering the chiral bias of meteoritic isovaline through asymmetric photochemistry |
| title_full_unstemmed | Uncovering the chiral bias of meteoritic isovaline through asymmetric photochemistry |
| title_short | Uncovering the chiral bias of meteoritic isovaline through asymmetric photochemistry |
| title_sort | uncovering the chiral bias of meteoritic isovaline through asymmetric photochemistry |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-39177-y |
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