WP1. We collaborated with Prof. R. Kaiser’s team from the University Hawaii to study interstellar ices, detecting key molecules like glycerol, carboxylic acids, and phosphorus- and sulfur-containing compounds, vital to prebiotic evolution. Our experiments provided evidence for the abiotic formation of these molecules in interstellar environments and despite phosphorus’s vital role in biochemical reactions and phosphate-containing molecules like ATP, no experiments have been conducted in such settings.
WP2. To explore asymmetric photochemistry, we used chiroptical spectroscopy at the synchrotron radiation CD facility at ASTRID2, Aarhus University, to predict enantiomeric excesses (ee) inducible by CPL. Experiments with amino acids, sugars, and lipids demonstrated that helicity-dependent enantioselectivity is highly sensitive to the environmental conditions (solution, solid, or gas phase). Notably, sugars exhibited the highest enantioselectivity toward CPL, followed by amino acids, while lipids showed minimal selectivity.
We demonstrated CPL’s effective enantioselectivity on isovaline, a non-proteinogenic amino acid found with L-excesses in meteorites. Enabled by a UV-tunable laser developed under my ERC Starting Grant, this work suggests that small yet consistent L-biases from stellar CPL were likely amplified during aqueous alteration on meteorite parent bodies, potentially influencing Earth’s prebiotic inventory toward left-handed proteome precursors.
WP3. Our recent investigations into the evolution of chiral complexity have yielded highly promising results, particularly through the interplay of chiral sugar molecules and amino acids. A key aspect of this work was the role of mineral surfaces, which influence both aqueous alteration on meteorite parent bodies and the chemical evolution of organic matter on early Earth. Notably, research on mineral-surface catalysis has demonstrated olivine’s ability to facilitate sugar formation directly from formaldehyde—an abundant molecule in both interstellar and prebiotic environments—providing a crucial link between interstellar chemistry and prebiotic Earth processes.
Our research has resulted in a total of 17 scientific publications across three main objectives: Key findings on chiral molecule formation in interstellar and Solar System ices, as well as advancements in analytical workflows for meteorite and asteroid sample analysis, have been published in PNAS (2024) and Nature Communications (2024), among others. Investigations into the enantioselective interaction of chiral photons with biomolecules, including the first chiroptical gas phase spectra measurements, have been published in Nature Communications (2023) and Science Advances (2022). Experimental results on the role of mineral surfaces in the evolution of chiral complexity have appeared in ACS Earth and Space Chemistry (2024) and Earth and Planetary Science Letters (2024). Additionally, our critical reviews on the plausibility of stellar CPL as the original trigger for lipid homochirality was published in Nature Reviews Chemistry (2024).
All publications stem from experimental and theoretical work by both permanent and non-permanent team members, including doctoral and postdoctoral researchers. Many were accompanied by press releases, attracting attention from national and international media and leading to radio interviews. Our team has actively participated in scientific conferences and happily engaged in public outreach activities.
