Abstract
M. H. Engel and S. A. Macko1 tentatively ascribe the enantiomeric excess of L-amino acids in extraterrestrial sources to the circular polarization of synchrotron radiation, from a neutron star, incident on the interstellar molecular cloud from which the Solar System formed (see also the accompanying News and Views article by C. F. Chyba2). But the Kuhn-Condon zero-sum rule3,4 for the rotational strengths of a chiral molecule requires that broad-band circularly polarized radiation cannot discriminate between the enantiomers of a racemic substance in photochemical reactions.
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References
Engel, M. H. & Macko, S. A. Nature 389, 265–268 (1997).
Chyba, C. F. Nature 389, 234–235 (1997).
Kuhn, W. Trans. Faraday Soc. 26, 293–310 (1930).
Condon, E. U. Rev. Mod. Phys. 9, 432–457 (1937).
Mason, S. F. Chem. Soc. Rev. 17, 347–359 (1988).
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Mason, S. Extraterrestrial handedness. Nature 389, 804 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/39777
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/39777
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