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Melli A, Melosso M, Lengsfeld KG, Bizzocchi L, Rivilla VM, Dore L, Barone V, Grabow JU, Puzzarini C. Spectroscopic Characterization of 3-Aminoisoxazole, a Prebiotic Precursor of Ribonucleotides. MOLECULES (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 27:molecules27103278. [PMID: 35630755 PMCID: PMC9147597 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27103278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2022] [Revised: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 05/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The processes and reactions that led to the formation of the first biomolecules on Earth play a key role in the highly debated theme of the origin of life. Whether the first chemical building blocks were generated on Earth (endogenous synthesis) or brought from space (exogenous delivery) is still unanswered. The detection of complex organic molecules in the interstellar medium provides valuable support to the latter hypothesis. To gather more insight, here we provide the astronomers with accurate rotational frequencies to guide the interstellar search of 3-aminoisoxazole, which has been recently envisaged as a key reactive species in the scenario of the so-called RNA-world hypothesis. Relying on an accurate computational characterization, we were able to register and analyze the rotational spectrum of 3-aminoisoxazole in the 6–24 GHz and 80–320 GHz frequency ranges for the first time, exploiting a Fourier-transform microwave spectrometer and a frequency-modulated millimeter/sub-millimeter spectrometer, respectively. Due to the inversion motion of the −NH2 group, two states arise, and both of them were characterized, with more than 1300 lines being assigned. Although the fit statistics were affected by an evident Coriolis interaction, we were able to produce accurate line catalogs for astronomical observations of 3-aminoisoxazole.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessio Melli
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, 56126 Pisa, Italy; (A.M.); (V.B.)
- Dipartimento di Chimica “Giacomo Ciamician”, Università di Bologna, Via F. Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy; (L.B.); (L.D.)
| | - Mattia Melosso
- Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Università di Napoli Federico II, Largo San Marcellino 10, 80138 Naples, Italy
- Correspondence: (M.M.); (C.P.)
| | - Kevin G. Lengsfeld
- Institut für Physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover, Callinstraße 3A, 30167 Hannover, Germany; (K.G.L.); (J.-U.G.)
| | - Luca Bizzocchi
- Dipartimento di Chimica “Giacomo Ciamician”, Università di Bologna, Via F. Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy; (L.B.); (L.D.)
| | - Víctor M. Rivilla
- Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), Ctra. de Ajalvir Km. 4, Torrejón de Ardoz, 28850 Madrid, Spain;
| | - Luca Dore
- Dipartimento di Chimica “Giacomo Ciamician”, Università di Bologna, Via F. Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy; (L.B.); (L.D.)
| | - Vincenzo Barone
- Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, 56126 Pisa, Italy; (A.M.); (V.B.)
| | - Jens-Uwe Grabow
- Institut für Physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover, Callinstraße 3A, 30167 Hannover, Germany; (K.G.L.); (J.-U.G.)
| | - Cristina Puzzarini
- Dipartimento di Chimica “Giacomo Ciamician”, Università di Bologna, Via F. Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy; (L.B.); (L.D.)
- Correspondence: (M.M.); (C.P.)
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2
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New Signatures of Bio-Molecular Complexity in the Hypervelocity Impact Ejecta of Icy Moon Analogues. Life (Basel) 2022; 12:life12040508. [PMID: 35454999 PMCID: PMC9026792 DOI: 10.3390/life12040508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2022] [Revised: 03/07/2022] [Accepted: 03/11/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Impact delivery of prebiotic compounds to the early Earth from an impacting comet is considered to be one of the possible ways by which prebiotic molecules arrived on the Earth. Given the ubiquity of impact features observed on all planetary bodies, bolide impacts may be a common source of organics on other planetary bodies both in our own and other solar systems. Biomolecules such as amino acids have been detected on comets and are known to be synthesized due to impact-induced shock processing. Here we report the results of a set of hypervelocity impact experiments where we shocked icy mixtures of amino acids mimicking the icy surface of planetary bodies with high-speed projectiles using a two-stage light gas gun and analyzed the ejecta material after impact. Electron microscopic observations of the ejecta have shown the presence of macroscale structures with long polypeptide chains revealed from LCMS analysis. These results suggest a pathway in which impact on cometary ices containing building blocks of life can lead to the synthesis of material architectures that could have played a role in the emergence of life on the Earth and which may be applied to other planetary bodies as well.
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Abstract
The detection of ethanolamine (NH2CH2CH2OH) in a molecular cloud in the interstellar medium confirms that a precursor of phospholipids is efficiently formed by interstellar chemistry. Hence, ethanolamine could have been transferred from the proto-Solar nebula to planetesimals and minor bodies of the Solar System and thereafter to our planet. The prebiotic availability of ethanolamine on early Earth could have triggered the formation of efficient and permeable amphiphilic molecules such as phospholipids, thus playing a relevant role in the evolution of the first cellular membranes needed for the emergence of life. Cell membranes are a key element of life because they keep the genetic material and metabolic machinery together. All present cell membranes are made of phospholipids, yet the nature of the first membranes and the origin of phospholipids are still under debate. We report here the presence of ethanolamine in space, NH2CH2CH2OH, which forms the hydrophilic head of the simplest and second-most-abundant phospholipid in membranes. The molecular column density of ethanolamine in interstellar space is N = (1.51± 0.07)× 1013 cm−2, implying a molecular abundance with respect to H2 of (0.9−1.4) × 10−10. Previous studies reported its presence in meteoritic material, but they suggested that it is synthesized in the meteorite itself by decomposition of amino acids. However, we find that the proportion of the molecule with respect to water in the interstellar medium is similar to the one found in the meteorite (10−6). These results indicate that ethanolamine forms efficiently in space and, if delivered onto early Earth, could have contributed to the assembling and early evolution of primitive membranes.
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Stolar T, Grubešić S, Cindro N, Meštrović E, Užarević K, Hernández JG. Mechanochemical Prebiotic Peptide Bond Formation*. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2021; 60:12727-12731. [PMID: 33769680 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202100806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2021] [Revised: 03/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The presence of amino acids on the prebiotic Earth, either stemming from endogenous chemical routes or delivered by meteorites, is consensually accepted. Prebiotically plausible pathways to peptides from inactivated amino acids are still unclear as most oligomerization approaches rely on thermodynamically disfavored reactions in solution. Now, a combination of prebiotically plausible minerals and mechanochemical activation enables the oligomerization of glycine at ambient temperature in the absence of water. Raising the reaction temperature increases the degree of oligomerization concomitantly with the formation of a commonly unwanted cyclic glycine dimer (DKP). However, DKP is a productive intermediate in the mechanochemical oligomerization of glycine. The findings of this research show that mechanochemical peptide bond formation is a dynamic process that provides alternative routes towards oligopeptides and establishes new synthetic approaches for prebiotic chemistry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomislav Stolar
- Division of Physical Chemistry, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička c. 54, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Saša Grubešić
- Xellia Pharmaceuticals, Slavonska avenija 24/6, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Nikola Cindro
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Horvatovac 102a, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Ernest Meštrović
- Xellia Pharmaceuticals, Slavonska avenija 24/6, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Krunoslav Užarević
- Division of Physical Chemistry, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička c. 54, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - José G Hernández
- Division of Physical Chemistry, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička c. 54, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
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5
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Stolar T, Grubešić S, Cindro N, Meštrović E, Užarević K, Hernández JG. Mechanochemical Prebiotic Peptide Bond Formation**. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.202100806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tomislav Stolar
- Division of Physical Chemistry Ruđer Bošković Institute Bijenička c. 54 10000 Zagreb Croatia
| | - Saša Grubešić
- Xellia Pharmaceuticals Slavonska avenija 24/6 10000 Zagreb Croatia
| | - Nikola Cindro
- Department of Organic Chemistry Faculty of Science University of Zagreb Horvatovac 102a 10000 Zagreb Croatia
| | - Ernest Meštrović
- Xellia Pharmaceuticals Slavonska avenija 24/6 10000 Zagreb Croatia
| | - Krunoslav Užarević
- Division of Physical Chemistry Ruđer Bošković Institute Bijenička c. 54 10000 Zagreb Croatia
| | - José G. Hernández
- Division of Physical Chemistry Ruđer Bošković Institute Bijenička c. 54 10000 Zagreb Croatia
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Singh SV, Vishakantaiah J, Meka JK, Sivaprahasam V, Chandrasekaran V, Thombre R, Thiruvenkatam V, Mallya A, Rajasekhar BN, Muruganantham M, Datey A, Hill H, Bhardwaj A, Jagadeesh G, Reddy KPJ, Mason NJ, Sivaraman B. Shock Processing of Amino Acids Leading to Complex Structures-Implications to the Origin of Life. Molecules 2020; 25:molecules25235634. [PMID: 33265981 PMCID: PMC7730583 DOI: 10.3390/molecules25235634] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2020] [Revised: 11/15/2020] [Accepted: 11/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The building blocks of life, amino acids, are believed to have been synthesized in the extreme conditions that prevail in space, starting from simple molecules containing hydrogen, carbon, oxygen and nitrogen. However, the fate and role of amino acids when they are subjected to similar processes largely remain unexplored. Here we report, for the first time, that shock processed amino acids tend to form complex agglomerate structures. Such structures are formed on timescales of about 2 ms due to impact induced shock heating and subsequent cooling. This discovery suggests that the building blocks of life could have self-assembled not just on Earth but on other planetary bodies as a result of impact events. Our study also provides further experimental evidence for the ‘threads’ observed in meteorites being due to assemblages of (bio)molecules arising from impact-induced shocks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Surendra V. Singh
- Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics Division, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad 380009, India; (S.V.S.); (J.K.M.)
- Discipline of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Gandhinagar 382355, India
| | - Jayaram Vishakantaiah
- Solid State & Structural Chemistry Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India;
| | - Jaya K. Meka
- Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics Division, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad 380009, India; (S.V.S.); (J.K.M.)
| | - Vijayan Sivaprahasam
- Planetary Science Division, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad 380009, India; (V.S.); (A.B.)
| | | | - Rebecca Thombre
- Department of Biotechnology, Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Pune 411005, India;
| | - Vijay Thiruvenkatam
- Discipline of Biological Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Gandhinagar 382355, India;
| | - Ambresh Mallya
- Centre for Nano Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India;
| | | | | | - Akshay Datey
- Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India; (A.D.); (G.J.); (K.P.J.R.)
| | - Hugh Hill
- Physical Sciences, International Space University, 67400 Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France;
| | - Anil Bhardwaj
- Planetary Science Division, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad 380009, India; (V.S.); (A.B.)
| | - Gopalan Jagadeesh
- Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India; (A.D.); (G.J.); (K.P.J.R.)
| | - Kalidevapura P. J. Reddy
- Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India; (A.D.); (G.J.); (K.P.J.R.)
| | - Nigel J. Mason
- School of Physical Sciences, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NZ, UK
- Correspondence: (N.J.M.); (B.S.)
| | - Bhalamurugan Sivaraman
- Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics Division, Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad 380009, India; (S.V.S.); (J.K.M.)
- Correspondence: (N.J.M.); (B.S.)
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7
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Zellner NEB, McCaffrey VP, Butler JHE. Cometary Glycolaldehyde as a Source of pre-RNA Molecules. ASTROBIOLOGY 2020; 20:1377-1388. [PMID: 32985898 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2020.2216] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Over 200 molecules have been detected in multiple extraterrestrial environments, including glycolaldehyde (C2(H2O)2, GLA), a two-carbon sugar precursor that has been detected in regions of the interstellar medium. Its recent in situ detection on the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and through remote observations in the comae of others provides tantalizing evidence that it is common on most (if not all) comets. Impact experiments conducted at the Experimental Impact Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center have shown that samples of GLA and GLA mixed with montmorillonite clays can survive impact delivery in the pressure range of 4.5 to 25 GPa. Extrapolated to amounts of GLA observed on individual comets and assuming a monotonic impact rate in the first billion years of Solar System history, these experimental results show that up to 1023 kg of cometary GLA could have survived impact delivery, with substantial amounts of threose, erythrose, glycolic acid, and ethylene glycol also produced or delivered. Importantly, independent of the profile of the impact flux in the early Solar System, comet delivery of GLA would have provided (and may continue to provide) a reservoir of starting material for the formose reaction (to form ribose) and the Strecker reaction (to form amino acids). Thus, comets may have been important delivery vehicles for starting molecules necessary for life as we know it.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Jayden H E Butler
- Department of Physics, Albion College, Albion, Michigan, USA
- Department of Physics, California State University - Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
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8
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Dalai P, Pleyer HL, Strasdeit H, Fox S. The Influence of Mineral Matrices on the Thermal Behavior of Glycine. ORIGINS LIFE EVOL B 2017; 47:427-452. [PMID: 27757771 DOI: 10.1007/s11084-016-9523-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2016] [Accepted: 08/27/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
On the Hadean-Early Archean Earth, the first islands must have provided hot and dry environments for abiotically formed organic molecules. The heat sources, mainly volcanism and meteorite impacts, were also available on Mars during the Noachian period. In recent work simulating this scenario, we have shown that neat glycine forms a black, sparingly water-soluble polymer ("thermomelanoid") when dry-heated at 200 °C under pure nitrogen. The present study explores whether relevant minerals and mineral mixtures can change this thermal behavior. Most experiments were conducted at 200 or 250 °C for 2 or 7 days. The mineral matrices used were phyllosilicates (Ca-montmorillonites SAz-1 and STx-1, Na-montmorillonite SAz-1-Na, nontronite NAu-1, kaolinite KGa-1), salts (NaCl, NaCl-KCl, CaCl2, artificial sea salt, gypsum, magnesite), picritic basalt, and three Martian regolith simulants (P-MRS, S-MRS, JSC Mars-1A). The main analytical method employed was high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Glycine intercalated in SAz-1 and SAz-1-Na was well protected against thermomelanoid formation and sublimation at 200 °C: after 2 days, 95 and 79 %, respectively, had either survived unaltered or been transformed into the cyclic dipeptide (DKP) and linear peptides up to Gly6. The glycine survival rate followed the order SAz-1 > SAz-1-Na > STx-1 ≈ NAu-1 > KGa-1. Very good protection was also provided by artificial sea salt (84 % unaltered glycine after 200 °C for 7 days). P-MRS promoted the condensation up to Gly6, consistent with its high phyllosilicate content. The remaining matrices were less effective in preserving glycine as such or as peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Punam Dalai
- Department of Bioinorganic Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of Hohenheim, Garbenstr. 30, 70599, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Hannes Lukas Pleyer
- Department of Bioinorganic Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of Hohenheim, Garbenstr. 30, 70599, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Henry Strasdeit
- Department of Bioinorganic Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of Hohenheim, Garbenstr. 30, 70599, Stuttgart, Germany.
| | - Stefan Fox
- Department of Bioinorganic Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of Hohenheim, Garbenstr. 30, 70599, Stuttgart, Germany
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Racemization of Valine by Impact-Induced Heating. ORIGINS LIFE EVOL B 2017; 48:131-139. [PMID: 28484901 DOI: 10.1007/s11084-017-9539-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2017] [Accepted: 04/25/2017] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Homochirality plays an important role in all living organisms but its origin remains unclear. It also remains unclear whether such chiral molecules survived terrestrial heavy impact events. Impacts of extraterrestrial objects on early oceans were frequent and could have affected the chirality of oceanic amino acids when such amino acids accumulated during impacts. This study investigated the effects of shock-induced heating on enantiomeric change of valine with minerals such as olivine ([Mg0.9, Fe0.1]2SiO4), hematite (Fe2O3), and calcite (CaCO3). With a shock wave generated by an impact at ~0.8 km/s, both D- and L-enriched valine were significantly decomposed and partially racemized under all experimental conditions. Different minerals had different shock impedances; therefore, they provided different P-T conditions for identical impacts. Furthermore, the high pH of calcite promoted the racemization of valine. The results indicate that in natural hypervelocity impacts, amino acids in shocked oceanic water would have decomposed completely, since impact velocity and the duration of shock compression and heating are typically greater in hypervelocity impact events than those in experiments. Even with the shock wave by the impact of small and decelerated projectiles in which amino acids survive, the shock heating may generate sufficient heat for significant racemization in shocked oceanic water. However, the duration of shock induced heating by small projectiles is limited and the population of such decelerated projectiles would be limited. Therefore, even though impacts of asteroids and meteorites were frequent on the prebiotic Earth, impact events would not have significantly changed the ee of proteinogenic amino acids accumulated in the entire ocean.
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10
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Survivability and reactivity of glycine and alanine in early oceans: effects of meteorite impacts. J Biol Phys 2015; 42:177-98. [PMID: 26369758 DOI: 10.1007/s10867-015-9400-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2015] [Accepted: 08/13/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Prebiotic oceans might have contained abundant amino acids, and were subjected to meteorite impacts, especially during the late heavy bombardment. It is so far unknown how meteorite impacts affected amino acids in the early oceans. Impact experiments were performed under the conditions where glycine was synthesized from carbon, ammonia, and water, using aqueous solutions containing (13)C-labeled glycine and alanine. Selected amino acids and amines in samples were analyzed with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS). In particular, the (13)C-labeled reaction products were analyzed to distinguish between run products and contaminants. The results revealed that both amino acids survived partially in the early ocean through meteorite impacts, that part of glycine changed into alanine, and that large amounts of methylamine and ethylamine were formed. Fast decarboxylation was confirmed to occur during such impact processes. Furthermore, the formation of n-butylamine, detected only in the samples recovered from the solutions with additional nitrogen and carbon sources of ammonia and benzene, suggests that chemical reactions to form new biomolecules can proceed through marine impacts. Methylamine and ethylamine from glycine and alanine increased considerably in the presence of hematite rather than olivine under similar impact conditions. These results also suggest that amino acids present in early oceans can contribute further to impact-induced reactions, implying that impact energy plays a potential role in the prebiotic formation of various biomolecules, although the reactions are complicated and depend upon the chemical environments as well.
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Burchell MJ, Bowden SA, Cole M, Price MC, Parnell J. Survival of organic materials in hypervelocity impacts of ice on sand, ice, and water in the laboratory. ASTROBIOLOGY 2014; 14:473-85. [PMID: 24901745 PMCID: PMC4060819 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2013.1007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
The survival of organic molecules in shock impact events has been investigated in the laboratory. A frozen mixture of anthracene and stearic acid, solvated in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), was fired in a two-stage light gas gun at speeds of ~2 and ~4 km s(-1) at targets that included water ice, water, and sand. This involved shock pressures in the range of 2-12 GPa. It was found that the projectile materials were present in elevated quantities in the targets after impact and in some cases in the crater ejecta as well. For DMSO impacting water at 1.9 km s(-1) and 45° incidence, we quantify the surviving fraction after impact as 0.44±0.05. This demonstrates successful transfer of organic compounds from projectile to target in high-speed impacts. The range of impact speeds used covers that involved in impacts of terrestrial meteorites on the Moon, as well as impacts in the outer Solar System on icy bodies such as Pluto. The results provide laboratory evidence that suggests that exogenous delivery of complex organic molecules from icy impactors is a viable source of such material on target bodies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark J. Burchell
- School for Physical Sciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | | | - Michael Cole
- School for Physical Sciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Mark C. Price
- School for Physical Sciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - John Parnell
- School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
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12
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McCaffrey VP, Zellner NEB, Waun CM, Bennett ER, Earl EK. Reactivity and survivability of glycolaldehyde in simulated meteorite impact experiments. ORIGINS LIFE EVOL B 2014; 44:29-42. [PMID: 24934564 DOI: 10.1007/s11084-014-9358-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2014] [Accepted: 05/01/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Sugars of extraterrestrial origin have been observed in the interstellar medium (ISM), in at least one comet spectrum, and in several carbonaceous chondritic meteorites that have been recovered from the surface of the Earth. The origins of these sugars within the meteorites have been debated. To explore the possibility that sugars could be generated during shock events, this paper reports on the results of the first laboratory impact experiments wherein glycolaldehyde, found in the ISM, as well as glycolaldehyde mixed with montmorillonite clay, have been subjected to reverberated shocks from ~5 to >25 GPa. New biologically relevant molecules, including threose, erythrose and ethylene glycol, were identified in the resulting samples. These results show that sugar molecules can not only survive but also become more complex during impact delivery to planetary bodies.
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Affiliation(s)
- V P McCaffrey
- Department of Chemistry, Albion College, Albion, MI, 49224, USA,
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14
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Otake T, Taniguchi T, Furukawa Y, Kawamura F, Nakazawa H, Kakegawa T. Stability of amino acids and their oligomerization under high-pressure conditions: implications for prebiotic chemistry. ASTROBIOLOGY 2011; 11:799-813. [PMID: 21961531 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2011.0637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
The polymerization of amino acids leading to the formation of peptides and proteins is a significant problem for the origin of life. This problem stems from the instability of amino acids and the difficulty of their oligomerization in aqueous environments, such as seafloor hydrothermal systems. We investigated the stability of amino acids and their oligomerization reactions under high-temperature (180-400°C) and high-pressure (1.0-5.5 GPa) conditions, based on the hypothesis that the polymerization of amino acids occurred in marine sediments during diagenesis and metamorphism, at convergent margins on early Earth. Our results show that the amino acids glycine and alanine are stabilized by high pressure. Oligomers up to pentamers were formed, which has never been reported for alanine in the absence of a catalyst. The yields of peptides at a given temperature and reaction time were higher under higher-pressure conditions. Elemental, infrared, and isotopic analyses of the reaction products indicated that deamination is a key degradation process for amino acids and peptides under high-pressure conditions. A possible NH(3)-rich environment in marine sediments on early Earth may have further stabilized amino acids and peptides by inhibiting their deamination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tsubasa Otake
- Department of Earth Science, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
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15
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Brack A. Biological homochirality: comment on "Photochirogenesis: photochemical models on the absolute asymmetric formation of amino acids in interstellar space" by Uwe J. Meierhenrich et al. Phys Life Rev 2011; 8:331-2; discussion 337-8. [PMID: 21907649 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2011.08.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2011] [Accepted: 08/26/2011] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- André Brack
- Centre de biophysique moléculaire, CNRS, rue Charles sadron, F-45071 Orléans cedex 2, France.
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