Discovery of the interstellar chiral molecule propylene oxide (CH₃CHCH₂O).
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.
National 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.
Brett A
BA
McGuire
Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. bmcguire@nrao.edu pcarroll@caltech.edu.
P Brandon
PB
Carroll
Department of Astronomy, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Ryan A
RA
Loomis
Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
Ian A
IA
Finneran
National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA.
Philip R
PR
Jewell
National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA.
Anthony J
AJ
Remijan
Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
Geoffrey A
GA
Blake