A non-energetic mechanism for glycine formation in the interstellar medium

Autor: V. Kofman, K.-J. Chuang, E. F. van Dishoeck, A. R. Clements, Gleb Fedoseev, Harold Linnartz, Robin T. Garrod, Mi Wha Jin, Herma M. Cuppen, Sergio Ioppolo, D. Qasim
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Comet
Interstellar cloud
FOS: Physical sciences
Cosmic ray
01 natural sciences
chemistry.chemical_compound
Phase (matter)
Physics - Chemical Physics
0103 physical sciences
Atom
Theoretical Chemistry
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
010303 astronomy & astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
Chemical Physics (physics.chem-ph)
Quantitative Biology::Biomolecules
Chemistry
Methylamine
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
Interstellar medium
Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
13. Climate action
Chemical physics
Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)
Glycine
Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Zdroj: Nature Astronomy, 5, 197-205
Nat. Astron.
Nature Astronomy
Nature Astronomy, 5, pp. 197-205
ISSN: 2397-3366
Popis: The detection of the amino acid glycine and its amine precursor methylamine on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by the Rosetta mission provides strong evidence for a cosmic origin of prebiotics on Earth. How and when such complex organic molecules form along the process of star- and planet-formation remains debated. We report the first laboratory detection of glycine formed in the solid phase through atom and radical-radical addition surface reactions under cold dense interstellar cloud conditions. Our experiments, supported by astrochemical models, suggest that glycine forms without the need for energetic irradiation, such as UV photons and cosmic rays, in interstellar water-rich ices, where it remains preserved, in a much earlier star-formation stage than previously assumed. We also confirm that solid methylamine is an important side-reaction product. A prestellar formation of glycine on ice grains provides the basis for a complex and ubiquitous prebiotic chemistry in space enriching the chemical content of planet-forming material.
Preprint of the original submitted version
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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