Carbon isotope composition of individual amino acids in the Murchison meteorite

Abstract

A SIGNIFICANT parties of prebiotic organic matter on the early Earth may have been introduced by carbonaceous asteroids and comets.{sup 1} The distribution and stable-isotope composition of individual organic compounds in carbonaceous meteorites, which are thought to be derived from asteroidal parent bodies, may therefore provide important information concerning mechanistic pathways for prebiotic synthesis{sup 2} and the composition of organic matter on Earth before living systems developed.{sup 3} Previous studies{sup 11,12} have shown that meteorite amino acids are enriched in {sup 13}C relatives to their terrestrial counterparts, but individual species were not distinguished. Here we report the {sup 13}C contents of individual amino acids in the Murchison meteorite. The amino acids are enriched in {sup 13}C, indicating an extraterrestrial origin. Alanine is not racemic, and the {sup 13}C enrichment of its D- and L-enantiomers implies that the excess of the L-enantiomer is indigenous rather than terrestrial contamination, suggesting that optically active materials were present in the early Solar System before life began. {copyright} {ital 1996 American Institute of Physics.}