Search for selectivity in interactions of chiral solvated electrons

Abstract

ULBRICHT'S suggestion¹ that naturally occurring dissymmetry at the elementary particle level may be responsible for the chirality of molecules in the biosphere has feeen subjected to laboratory tests using polarised electrons^2,3 and muons⁴. Some positive results are claimed to result from β⁻ and β⁺ radiations^2,3. Garay found a higher radiation yield for the decomposition of D-tyrosine than for L-tyrosine when subjected to intrinsically ‘left-handed’ β⁻ particles from ⁹⁰Sr in dilute aqueous solution. Since 2.26-MeV β⁻ particles each create ∼ 10⁵ secondary electrons during their energy degradation, the direct chemical consequences of the primary particle itself should be trivial. This suggests that dissymmetry must be transmitted through secondary chemical reactions. In the positron and muon experiments the ultimate fate of the individual polarised particles were studied in pure crystalline chiral media and in these cases the particle eventually abstracts an electron from the medium, principally while it is still epithermal.