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Updated: Mar 19, 2026

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Published on: August 18, 2017
Discovery of the interstellar chiral molecule propylene oxide (CH₃CHCH₂O)
Brett A McGuire1, P Brandon Carroll2, Ryan A Loomis3
1National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA. Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. bmcguire@nrao.edu pcarroll@caltech.edu.
Abstract:
Life on Earth relies on chiral molecules-that is, species not superimposable on their mirror images. This manifests itself in the selection of a single molecular handedness, or homochirality, across the biosphere. We present the astronomical detection of a chiral molecule, propylene oxide (CH3CHCH2O), in absorption toward the Galactic center. Propylene oxide is detected in the gas phase in a cold, extended molecular shell around the embedded, massive protostellar clusters in the Sagittarius B2 star-forming region. This material is representative of the earliest stage of solar system evolution in which a chiral molecule has been found.
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