Abstract
Because of Titan's large surface area, great age, and absence of life, the world may be an organic chemical reactor far more extensive and longer-lived than is possible in any conceivable laboratory facility. The chapter reviews whether abiological organic evolution has proceeded towards a state of enantiomeric purity on Titan's surface or in its atmosphere. Within our own solar system are other natural experiments in organic chemistry―some ancient and expired, while others active but difficult to access. Titan is perhaps unique in having an ongoing abiotic organic chemistry that, while far from the Earth, is relatively accessible by the same spaceflight technologies astronauts use to return to the Earth. From the understanding promised by instruments of Cassini-Huygens, the possibility of exploring Titan as a natural laboratory for the stereochemical experiments that might have preceded life's beginnings on Earth is evaluated in the chapter.
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