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Synthesis and Chirality of Amino Acids Under Interstellar Conditions

Chapter
First Online:
Part of the Topics in Current Chemistry book series (TOPCURRCHEM, volume 333)

Abstract

Amino acids are the fundamental building blocks of proteins, the biomolecules that provide cellular structure and function in all living organisms. A majority of amino acids utilized within living systems possess pre-specified orientation geometry (chirality); however the original source for this specific orientation remains uncertain. In order to trace the chemical evolution of life, an appreciation of the synthetic and evolutional origins of the first chiral amino acids must first be gained. Given that the amino acids in our universe are likely to have been synthesized in molecular clouds in interstellar space, it is necessary to understand where and how the first synthesis might have occurred. The asymmetry of the original amino acid synthesis was probably the result of exposure to chiral photons in the form of circularly polarized light (CPL), which has been detected in interstellar molecular clouds. This chirality transfer event, from photons to amino acids, has been successfully recreated experimentally and is likely a combination of both asymmetric synthesis and enantioselective photolysis. A series of innovative studies have reported successful simulation of these environments and afforded production of chiral amino acids under realistic circumstellar and interstellar conditions: irradiation of interstellar ice analogues (CO, CO2, NH3, CH3OH, and H2O) with circularly polarized ultraviolet photons at low temperatures does result in enantiomer enriched amino acid structures (up to 1.3% ee). This topical review summarizes current knowledge and recent discoveries about the simulated interstellar environments within which amino acids were probably formed. A synopsis of the COSAC experiment onboard the ESA cometary mission ROSETTA concludes this review: the ROSETTA mission will soft-land on the nucleus of the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in November 2014, anticipating the first in situ detection of asymmetric organic molecules in cometary ices.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

Amino acids Chirality Churyumov-Gerasimenko Circularly polarized radiation COSAC GC–MS Molecular clouds PHILAE ROSETTA 

Abbreviations

Amu

Atomic mass unit

AU

Astronomical unit

AV

Total visual extinction

DMF–DMA

Dimethylformamide–dimethylacetal

ECEE

N,N-ethoxycarbonyl ethyl ester

Kpc

Distance in kiloparsecs

Mʘ pc−2 Gyr−1

Mass loss rate per square parsec per gigayear

Mʘ yr−1

Mass loss rate

n(H2) yr

Accretion rate of hydrogen molecule

nH

Condensate density

NIR

Near infrared

pcs

Parsecs

UV

Ultraviolet

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Notes

Acknowledgements

We thank the generous support provided by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, the RSC JWT Jones Fellowship (for A.C.E.), the European Space Agency, as well as the synchrotron centers SOLEIL, Gif-sur-Yvette, France, and the Institute for Storage Ring Facilities at Aarhus University, Denmark.

Author contributions: C.G., C.M., and A.C.E. wrote the manuscript. F.G. is the principal investigator of ROSETTA’s COSAC instrument and led the writing of Sect. 6. U.J.M. initiated research programs on biomolecular asymmetry and defined major science subjects as written in Sects. 4 and 5.

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© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Max Planck Institute for Solar System ResearchKatlenburg-LindauGermany
  2. 2.Institut de Chimie de NiceUniversity of Nice-Sophia Antipolis, UMR 7272 CNRSNice Cedex 2France
  3. 3.Murray Edwards CollegeUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK

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