A positive correlation was observed between the enantiomeric excess (ee) of L-isovaline (L-iVal) and the degree of aqueous alteration (AqA) of carbonaceous meteorites. The origin of this remarkable phenomenon has […]
The search for the simplest amino acid, glycine (NH2CH2COOH), in the interstellar medium (ISM), has become a never-ending story for astrochemistry and astrophysics researchers because that molecule plays a possible […]
In the star formation regions, the complex organic molecules that contain peptide bonds (−NH−C(=O)−) play a major role in the metabolic process because −NH−C(=O)− is connected to amino acids (R-CHNH2−COOH).
UC Santa Barbara researchers are building out the repertoire of chemical reactions, using light. In a paper published in the journal Nature, chemistry professor Yang Yang and collaborators at the […]
Infrared emission features toward interstellar gas of the IC 348 star cluster in Perseus have been recently proposed to originate from the amino acid tryptophan.
Comets are a rich reservoir of complex organic molecules. Ground and space-based observatories have recently greatly enhanced the cometary molecular inventory.
Aqueous chemistry within carbonaceous planetesimals is promising for synthesizing prebiotic organic matter essential to all life. Meteorites derived from these planetesimals delivered these life building blocks to the early Earth, […]
The search for the simplest amino acid, glycine (NH2CH2COOH), in the interstellar medium (ISM), has become a never-ending story for astrochemistry and astrophysics researchers because that molecule plays a possible […]
![A) Alanine synthesis using a Strecker mechanism, where the wiggly bonds indicate indeterminate stereochemistry. (B) Illustrating a calcium-promoted step on the reaction pathway where a PNC effect from Ca2+ could influence chiral preference at the Cα carbon (highlighted by circling in dashed blue). (C) An example of an Ala-bound calcium complex in a metal-mediated autocatalytic pathway, where L and L′ could be water, a bifurcating carboxylate from another amino acid [5], or other ligands. -- Life](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Influence-of-the.png?resize=1200%2C900&ssl=1)
Natural chiral amino acids typically adopt an L structural configuration. While a preference for specific molecular chiralities is observed throughout biology and cellular chemistry, the origins of this preference are […]
Scientists have long speculated about the potential habitability of Venus, not at the 700K surface, but in the cloud layers located at 48-60 km altitudes, where temperatures match those found […]
