S-Isovaline Contained in Meteorites, Induces Enantiomeric Excess in D,L-glutamic Acid During Recrystallization

S-Isovaline (S-Iva: 6.7 mmol) and D,L-glutamic acid (Glu: 2 mmol) were dissolved in 10 ml of hot water, and the resulting solution was divided in 5 vessels. After recrystallization, the crystals were collected from each vessel, and the enantiomeric excess (ee) of Glu was determined with chemical derivatization using 1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrophenyl- 5-L-leucinamide followed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Ten crystallizations provided all D-rich Glu with ee values of 2.69 % ± 0.81 % (mean ± standard deviation), and those using R-Iva provided all L-rich Glu with ee values of 6.24 % ± 2.20 %. Five recrystallizations of D,L-Glu alone provided ee values of 0.474 % ± 0.33 %. The differences among these three ee values were statistically significant, showing that S-Iva, which was present in meteorites caused a significant induction of ee in this physiological amino acid. This is the first outcome that S-Iva induced ee changes in a physiological amino acid. S-Iva did not induce any ee changes in D,L-asparagine, leucine, valine, methionine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, glutamine, tyrosine, aspartic acid, or histidine under similar recrystallizations.