Prospects for circular dichroism detection of nonracemic extraterrestrial organic molecules.
The use of circular dichroism is examined as a probe for the detection of nonracemic analytes on spacecraft explorations such as a planned mission to Titan. Advances in both instrument design and chemistry will be required to make such a method practicable. The focus of this paper is on chemical agents able to amplify the circular dichroism signal, which would simplify instrument problems and increase sensitivity. A classic phenomenon known as the Pfeiffer effect provides a conceptual strategy to achieve the necessary aims for chirality detection. Recent examples of Pfeiffer-related phenomena are discussed.
Canary
J W
JW
New York University, NY 10003, USA. james.canary@nyu.edu
Holmes
A E
AE
Liu
J
J
D002942:Circular Dichroism; D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry; D005118:Extraterrestrial Environment
D003300:Copper