Photolysis of rac-leucine with circularly polarized synchrotron radiation

Amino acids that pass the RNA machinery in living organisms occur in L-configuration. The question on the evolutionary origin of this biomolecular asymmetry remains unanswered to this day. Amino acids were detected in artificially produced interstellar ices, and L-enantiomer-enriched amino acids were identified in CM-type meteorites. This hints at a possible interstellar/circumstellar origin of the amino acids themselves as well as their stereochemical asymmetry. Based upon the current knowledge about the occurrence of circularly-polarized electromagnetic radiation in interstellar environments, we subjected rac-leucine to far-UV circularly-polarized synchrotron radiation. Asymmetric photolysis was followed by an analysis in an enantioselective GC/MS system. Here, we report on an advanced photolysis rate of more than 99% for leucine. The results indicate that high photolysis rates can occur under the chosen conditions, favoring enantioselective photolysis. In 2014, the obtained results will be reexamined by cometary mission Rosetta.