Bonner W A, Rubenstein E
Biosystems. 1987;20(1):99-111. doi: 10.1016/0303-2647(87)90025-6.
Recent theoretical and experimental investigations of the origin of biomolecular chirality are reviewed briefly. Biotic and abiotic theories are evaluated critically with the conclusion that asymmetric photochemical processes with circulary polarized light (CPL), particularly asymmetric photolyses, constitute the most viable mechanisms. Solar CPL sources appear too weak and random to be effective. We suggest an alternative CPL source, namely, the synchrotron radiation from the neutron star remnants of supernova explosions. This could asymmetrically process racemic compounds in the organic mantles of the dust grains in interstellar clouds, and the resulting chiral molecules could be transferred to Earth by cold accretion as the solar system periodically traverses these interstellar clouds.
本文简要综述了近期关于生物分子手性起源的理论和实验研究。对生物和非生物理论进行了批判性评估，得出的结论是，圆偏振光（CPL）引发的不对称光化学过程，特别是不对称光解，是最可行的机制。太阳CPL源似乎太微弱且无规律，难以产生有效作用。我们提出了一种替代的CPL源，即超新星爆炸产生的中子星遗迹发出的同步辐射。这种辐射可以使星际云中尘埃颗粒有机幔层中的外消旋化合物发生不对称反应，产生的手性分子可能会在太阳系周期性穿越这些星际云时，通过冷吸积作用被转移到地球上。
