Discovery of the interstellar chiral molecule propylene oxide (CH 3 CHCH 2 O)-Reference-Cited by-同舟云学术

Discovery of the interstellar chiral molecule propylene oxide (CH 3 CHCH 2 O)

Published:2016-06-17 Issue:6292 Volume:352 Page:1449-1452
ISSN:0036-8075
Container-title:Science
language:en
Short-container-title:Science

Author:

McGuire Brett A.¹²,Carroll P. Brandon²,Loomis Ryan A.³,Finneran Ian A.²,Jewell Philip R.¹,Remijan Anthony J.¹,Blake Geoffrey A.²⁴

Affiliation:

1. National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA.

2. Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.

3. Department of Astronomy, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

4. Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.

Abstract

Chiral molecule discovered in space A chiral molecule is one that has two forms that are mirror images of each other: enantiomers. Biological systems overwhelmingly use one enantiomer over another, and some meteorites show an excess of one type. The two forms are almost identical chemically, so how this excess first arose is unknown. McGuire et al. used radio astronomy to detect the first known chiral molecule in space: propylene oxide. The work raises the prospect of measuring the enantiomer excess in various astronomical objects, including regions where planets are being formed, to discover how and why the excess first appeared. Science , this issue p. 1449

Funder

National Science Foundation

NASA

NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics

Publisher

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Subject

Multidisciplinary

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