Abstract
Previous investigations have shown the efficacyof right-(RCPL) and left-(LCPL) circularly polarized light inpromoting the asymmetric photolysis of racemic organic substratesand producing measurable enantiomeric excesses (e.e.s) whenphotolysis is incomplete. Synchrotron radiation, polychromaticand having out-of-plane components which are elliptically andultimately circularly polarized, has been suggested as auniversal source of RCPL and LCPL on a cosmic scale. The moreprevalent right-(REPL) and left-(LEPL) elliptically polarizedcomponents have never been investigated for similar capabilities.The present study, using a 212.8 nm laser beam to mimic thesynchtrotron radiation, explores the potential of REPL and LEPLin this context and finds a qualitative trend indicating thateach induces asymmetric photolysis in the same sense as RCPL andLCPL, but to a lesser degree.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Agarwal, V. K., Schutte, W., Greenberg, J. M., Ferris, J. P., Briggs, R., Conner, S., van de Bult, C. P. E. M. and Bass, F.: 1986, Photochemical Reactions in Interstellar Grains. Photolysis of CO, NH3 and H2O, Orig. Life 16, 21–40.
Avetisov, V. and Goldanskii, V.: 1996, Mirror Symmetry Breaking at the Molecular Level, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 93, 11435–11442.
Bailey, J., Chrysostomou, A., Hough, J. H., Gledhill, T. M., McCall, A., Clark, S., Menard, F. and Tamura, M.: 1998, Circular Polarization in Star-Formation Regions: Implications for Biomolecular Homochirality, Science 281, 672–674.
Blair, N. E. and Bonner, W. A.: 1980, Quantitative Determination of D 6D L Mixtures of Optical Enantiomers by Gas Chromatography, J. Chromatogr. 198, 185–187.
Bonner, W. A.: 1991, The Origin and Amplification of Biomolecular Chirality, Origins Life Evol. Biosphere 21, 59–111.
Bonner, W. A.: 1998, ‘Homochirality and Life’, in Jollès, P. (ed.), D-Amino Acids in Sequences of Secreted Peptides in Multicellular Organisms, Birkhäuser, Basel, pp. 159–188.
Bonner, W. A.: 1999, Chirality Amplification-The Accumulation Principle Revisited, Origins Life Evol. Biosphere 29, 615–623.
Bonner, W. A.: 2000, Parity Violation and the Evolution of Biomolecular Homochirality, Chirality 12, 114–126.
Bonner, W. A. and Blair, N. E.: 1979, Enantiomeric Phases in Analytical Gas Chromatography, J. Chromatogr. 169, 153–159.
Bonner, W. A. and Rubenstein, E.: 1987, Supernovae, Neutron Stars and Biomolecular Chirality, BioSystems 20, 99–111.
Bonner, W. A. and Rubenstein, E.: 1990, ‘Photochemical Origins of Biomolecular Chirality’, in Ponnamperuma, C. and Eirich, F. R. (eds.), Prebiological Self Organization of Matter, A. Deepak Publishing, Hampton, Virginia, pp. 35–50.
Brack, A. and Spach, G.: 1979, β-Structures of Polypeptides with L-and D-Residues. Part 1. Synthesis and Conformational Studies, J. Mol. Evol. 13, 35–46.
Flores, J. J., Bonner, W. A. and Massey, G. A.: 1977, Asymmetric Photolysis of (RS)-Leucine with Circularly Polarized Ultraviolet Light, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 99, 3622–3625.
Joyce, G. F., Visser, G. M., van Boeckel, C. A. A., van Bloom, J. H., Orgel, L. E. and van Westrenen, J.: 1984, Chiral Selection in Poly(C)-directed Synthesis of Oligo(G), Nature 310, 602–604.
Kuhn, W. and Knopf, E.: 1930, Darstellung Optisch Aktiver Stoffe mit Hilfe von Licht, Z. Physik. Chem. 7B, 292–310.
Mason, S. F. and Tranter, G. E.: 1984, The Parity Violating Energy Difference Between Enantiomeric Molecules, Molecular Physics 53, 1091–1111.
Rubenstein, E., Bonner, W. A., Noyes, H. P. and Brown, G. S.: 1983, Supernovae and Life, Nature 306, 118.
Winick, H.: 1980, ‘Properties of Synchrotron Radiation’, in Winick, H. and Doniach (eds.), Synchrotron Radiation Research, Plenum, New York, pp. 11–20.
Yamagata, Y.: 1966, A Hypothesis for the Asymmetric Appearance of Biomolecules on Earth, J. Theor Biol. 11, 495–498.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bonner, W.A., Bean, B.D. Asymmetric Photolysis with Elliptically Polarized Light. Orig Life Evol Biosph 30, 513–517 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026571209426
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026571209426