JONES , Nykola

Systematic enrichments of L-amino acids in meteorites is a strong indication that biological homochirality originated beyond Earth. Although still unresolved, stellar UV circularly polarized light (CPL) is the leading hypothesis to have caused the symmetry breaking in space. This involves the differential absorption of left- and right-CPL, a...

Systematic enrichments of l -amino acids in meteorites is a strong indication that biological homochirality originated beyond Earth. Although still unresolved, stellar UV circularly polarized light (CPL) is the leading hypothesis to have caused the symmetry breaking in space. This involves the differential absorption of left- and right-CPL, a...

The influence of protein-ligand interactions on protein stability is usually assessed by measurements in the liquid phase. CD spectroscopy appears to be a tool of choice to i) measure the conformation of the protein in different phases and to ii) follow the conformational changes of the protein upon binding.We therefore studied the stability of...

Circularly polarised light (CPL) interacting with interstellar organic molecules might have imparted chiral bias and hence preluded prebiotic evolution of biomolecular homochirality. The L-enrichment of extra-terrestrial amino acids in meteorites, as opposed to no detectable excess in monocarboxylic acids and amines, has previously been...

Abstract Glycerophospholipid membranes are one of the key cellular components. Still, their species‐dependent composition and homochirality remain an elusive subject. In the context of the astrophysical circularly polarized light scenario likely involved in the generation of a chiral bias in meteoritic amino and sugar acids in space, and...

Propylene oxide, the first chiral molecule recently detected in the interstellar medium, has once again raised the question whether biomolecular chirality might have cosmic origins. However, accurate chiroptical properties of propylene oxide in the ultraviolet spectral range necessary to suggest possible asymmetric synthetic routes in the gas...

The biomolecular homochirality in living organisms has been investigated for decades, but its origin remains poorly understood. It has been shown that circular polarized light (CPL) and other energy sources are capable of inducing small enantiomeric excesses (ees) in some primary biomolecules, such as amino acids or sugars. Since the first...

Electronic circular dichroism (ECD) and anisotropy spectra carry information on differential absorption of left- and right-circularly polarized light (LCPL and RCPL) by optically active compounds. This makes them powerful tools for the rapid determination of enantiomeric excesses (ee) in asymmetric synthetic and pharmaceutical chemistry, as...

All life on Earth is characterized by its asymmetry – both the genetic material and proteins are composed of homochiral monomers. Understanding how this molecular asymmetry initially arose is a key question related to the origins of life. Cometary ice simulations, L-enantiomeric enriched amino acids in meteorites and the detection of circularly...

Living organisms on the Earth almost exclusively use l-amino acids for the molecular architecture of proteins. The biological occurrence of d-amino acids is rare, although their functions in various organisms are being gradually understood. A possible explanation for the origin of biomolecular homochirality is the delivery of enantioenriched...

Life on Earth employs chiral amino acids in stereochemical L-form, but the cause of molecular symmetry breaking remains unknown. Chiroptical properties of amino acidsexpressed in circular dichroism (CD)have been previously investigated in solid and solution phase. However, both environments distort the intrinsic charge distribution associated...