Chirally Sensitive Electron-Induced Molecular Breakup and the Vester-Ulbricht Hypothesis
Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 118103 – Published 12 September 2014
J. M. Dreiling and T. J. Gay
Dr. Joan M. Dreiling and Dr. Timothy J. Gay with a sculpture of a DNA molecule on display in UNL's Beadle Center for Biotechnology. Source/Fonte: Phys.org
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-09-dna-right-handed-helix.html#jCp
ABSTRACT
We have studied dissociative electron attachment in sub-eV collisions between longitudinally polarized electrons and chiral bromocamphor molecules. For a given target enantiomer, the dissociative Br anion production depends on the helicity of the incident electrons, with an asymmetry that depends on the electron energy and is of order 3×10−4. The existence of chiral sensitivity in a well-defined molecular breakup reaction demonstrates the viability of the Vester-Ulbrict hypothesis, namely, that the longitudinal polarization of cosmic beta radiation was responsible for the origins of biological homochirality.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.118103
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