Magnetars and Magnetic Separation of Chiral Radicals in Interstellar Space: Homochirality

Abstract

Pasteur was the first to realize Earth’s homochirality. Consequently, he attempted to design experiments revealing a mechanism that would expose life’s chiral preference. Some of these experiments involved the application of magnetic fields to chemical reactions. His experiments failed, in part, because B-fields are pseudo-vectors and cannot couple preferentially to one handedness. However, extremely large magnetic fields cause the Maxwell equations to break down. This allows the motions of spin and charge densities in paramagnetic anion radicals to produce polarized axial B-fields that can undergo preferential coupling to one handedness. Hence, when a racemic mixture of paramagnetic organic molecules passes by an extremely large external gradated magnetic field, the enantiomers experience different torque forces and acquire different translational directions. B-fields of the required magnitude are unknown on this planet. In fact, they would be lethal, thereby eliminating any chance of Pasteur’s success. On the other hand, Duncan and co-workers have recently discovered and garnered physical understanding of magnetars in interstellar space. Some of these neutron star systems produce B-fields greater than the quantum electrodynamic field strength, which is more than enough to generate the required torque for the interstellar enantiomeric separation. In space, chiralitically enriched materials can be deposited on planetesimals and result in homochiral “islands” on the planets. The formation of magnetars is a consequence of weak force events. We assert that, in interstellar space, a plethora of enantiomerically enriched dust clouds resulted from inter-magnetar-paramagnetic molecule force fields.

Chemical Complexity and Consequent Homochirality from Weak Neutral Currents Acting upon Paramagnetic Enantiomers

“…The polarization, presented as P α = n α /( n α + n β ), can be easily calculated via the Boltzmann distribution (eq ), where g e is the electron g -value (2.0), B is the magnetic field in tesla, μ B is the Bohr magneton (9.27 × 10 –24 J·T –1 ), and k is the Boltzmann constant (1.38 × 10 –23 m 2 ·kg·s –2 ·K –1 ). At the meager man-made B -field used in an x -band electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) experiment (0.32 T), there is very little spin polarization ( P α = 0.5006) at 298 K and 0.527 at 4 K. However, at 300 K and a B -field that a weak white dwarf might produce (e.g., 10 3 T), the polarization is quite high (0.988), and since the mechanisms of either T 1 or T 2 relaxation for these radicals are well attenuated at high fields, the radicals can be considered spin-locked. ,, We generated a three-dimensional (3D) plot, using sigma plot 11.0, which reveals the change in polarization as the B -field and temperature change (Figure ).…”

“…Which came first, homochirality or life, is not a chicken or egg problem, because it is very difficult to see how life could have emerged and subsequently enforced homochirality upon itself. Singer, quoting G. F. Joyce (a Urey Medal winner), said: “something first had to crack the symmetry between left-handed and right-handed molecules, an event biochemists call ‘breaking the mirror’.” The first earthly event, which we understand, leading to a “breaking of the mirror” took place when Louis Pasteur physically separated the enantiomers of tartaric acid with the use of a microscope and tweezers. ,− Clearly, as Pasteur himself believed, the dissymmetry needed to allow biochemical development must have come from a more fundamental cosmic force. ,, There are only four subatomic cosmic forces known, and only one of them, the electroweak nuclear force, allows (indeed enforces) the necessary dissymmetry . The electroweak field does break the degeneracy of enantiomers.…”

Resonance in Chirogenesis and Photochirogenesis: Colloidal Polymers Meet Chiral Optofluidics

“…In 2019, Stevenson and Davis proposed a possibility of magnetophoresis that radical species of D-and L-substances are separable and sortable under an ultrastrong magnetic field gradient of >4.4 × 10 9 Tesla [77]. Such an ultrastrong magnetic field and gradient can no longer obey the standard Maxwell equations.…”

Sub-Hz Differential Rotational Spectroscopy of Enantiomers

“…PV effects have been observed in a number of different atomic systems [11][12][13][14][15] but have yet to be observed in a molecular system. An experimental measurement of such a shift can provide new information towards answering fundamental questions about homochirality and the origins of life [16][17][18].…”