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The search for enantiomeric excesses in cometary matter

Uwe J. Meierhenrich (1), Helmut Rosenbauer (2), and Wolfram H.-P. Thiemann (1)

(1) Dept. Physical Chemistry, Bremen University, Germany
(2) Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany

Recently fascinating models were published that gave evidence for the assumption that the chiral asymmetry in biological structures had been originally generated by an interstellar process. These observations indicate that some interstellar chemistry might offer the potential to generate an enantiomeric excess. To investigate the theories for an interstellar origin of the chiral asymmetry the 'Chiraliy-Experiment' has been developed for the lander RoLand of ESA's cometary mission ROSETTA. The 'Chirality-Experiment' is designed in order to separate and identify a wide range of enantiomers of specific organic compounds on a comet's surface. Preliminary results for the enantiomer separation of chiral hydrocarbons (trialkylmethanes) will be presented in this article. The knowledge of enantiomeric ratios on an extraterrestrial body may be a significant contribution in interpreting the origin of the chiral asymmetry on the Early Earth

Trân Thanh Vân (Ed.) Proceedings of the Euroconference „Frontiers of life“, 25 June - 1 July 2000, Blois, France (2003), 23-26.

This article was cited in:
Meierhenrich U.J., Thiemann W.H.-P., Rosenbauer: Stereochemical investigation of cometary 
     matter onboard Rosetta Lander. Enantiomer 6 (2001), 97-99.