Amino acid gas phase circular dichroism and implications for the origin of biomolecular asymmetry

Cornelia Meinert (), Adrien D. Garcia, Jérémie Topin, Nykola C. Jones, Mira Diekmann, Robert Berger, Laurent Nahon, Søren V. Hoffmann and Uwe J. Meierhenrich ()
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Cornelia Meinert: Université Côte d’Azur, UMR 7272 CNRS
Adrien D. Garcia: Université Côte d’Azur, UMR 7272 CNRS
Jérémie Topin: Université Côte d’Azur, UMR 7272 CNRS
Nykola C. Jones: Aarhus University
Mira Diekmann: Philipps-Universität Marburg
Robert Berger: Philipps-Universität Marburg
Laurent Nahon: Synchrotron SOLEIL, L’Orme des Merisiers
Søren V. Hoffmann: Aarhus University
Uwe J. Meierhenrich: Université Côte d’Azur, UMR 7272 CNRS

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Life on Earth employs chiral amino acids in stereochemical l-form, but the cause of molecular symmetry breaking remains unknown. Chiroptical properties of amino acids – expressed in circular dichroism (CD) – have been previously investigated in solid and solution phase. However, both environments distort the intrinsic charge distribution associated with CD transitions. Here we report on CD and anisotropy spectra of amino acids recorded in the gas phase, where any asymmetry is solely determined by the genuine electromagnetic transition moments. Using a pressure- and temperature-controlled gas cell coupled to a synchrotron radiation CD spectropolarimeter, we found CD active transitions and anisotropies in the 130–280 nm range, which are rationalized by ab initio calculation. As gas phase glycine was found in a cometary coma, our data may provide insights into gas phase asymmetric photochemical reactions in the life cycle of interstellar gas and dust, at the origin of the enantiomeric selection of life’s l-amino acids.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28184-0

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