Radiolysis, racemization and the origin of molecular asymmetry in the biosphere

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Abstract
An investigation has been undertaken to determine whether ionizing radiation might engender racemization of optically active amino acids, along with their usual radiolysis. As prototypes, crystalline D- and L-leucine, as well as aqueous solutions of their sodium salts were exposed to the radiation from a 3000 Ci60Coγ-ray source.γ-ray doses which caused about 68% radiolysis of solid leucine left a residue which was about 5% racemized, while racemization proved even greater at lower doses for the dissolved sodium salts. In aqueous solution both percent degradation and percent racemization of the sodium salts were proportional toγ-ray dosage within the range employed (1−27 · 106 rads). Implications of these observations for the origin of molecular asymmetry by theβ-decay parity violation mechanism are discussed.