Employing molecular beam depletion spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared matrix spectroscopy, respectively, we have studied the O–H stretching vibrations of the glycine conformers I, II, and III. The glycine molecules were either deposited into large liquid helium clusters HeN, N̄=11000, THe=0.4 K) or trapped in various rare gas matrices (Ne, Ar, Kr) at temperatures below 12 K. By extrapolating the experimental data plotted as a function of the square root of the critical temperature of the matrix material, the positions of the gas phase absorption bands were estimated to be 3585±2 cm−1 (conformer I), 3295±3 cm−1 (conformer II), and 3580±5 cm−1 (conformer III). The experimental results are compared with recent ab initio calculations.

The formation of grains in the interstellar medium, i.e., at low temperature, has been proposed as a possibility to solve the lifetime problem of cosmic dust. This process lacks a firm experimental basis, which is the goal of this study. We have investigated the condensation of SiO molecules at low temperature using neon matrix and helium droplet isolation techniques. The energies of SiO polymerization reactions have been determined experimentally with a calorimetric method and theoretically with calculations based on the density functional theory. The combined experimental and theoretical values have revealed the formation of cyclic (SiO) k (k = 2-3) clusters inside helium droplets at T = 0.37 K. Therefore, the oligomerization of SiO molecules is found to be barrierless and is expected to be fast in the low-temperature environment of the interstellar medium on the surface of dust grains. The incorporation of numerous SiO molecules in helium droplets leads to the formation of nanoscale amorphous SiO grains. Similarly, the annealing and evaporation of SiO-doped Ne matrices lead to the formation of solid amorphous SiO on the substrate. The structure and composition of the grains were determined by infrared absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Our results support the hypothesis that interstellar silicates can be formed in the low temperature regions of the interstellar medium by accretion through barrierless reactions.Subject headings: ISM: dust formation -ISM: silicate dust -low-temperature chemistry

Organic molecules are widely present in the dense interstellar medium, and many have been synthesized in the laboratory on Earth under the conditions typical for an interstellar environment. Until now, however, only relatively small molecules of biological interest have been demonstrated to form experimentally under typical space conditions. Here we prove experimentally that the condensation of carbon atoms on the surface of cold solid particles (cosmic dust) leads to the formation of isomeric polyglycine monomers (aminoketene molecules). Following encounters between aminoketene molecules, they polymerize to produce peptides of different lengths. The chemistry involves three of the most abundant species (CO, C and NH3) present in star-forming molecular clouds, and proceeds via a novel pathway that skips the stage of amino acid formation in protein synthesis. The process is efficient, even at low temperatures, without irradiation or the presence of water. The delivery of biopolymers formed by this chemistry to rocky planets in the habitable zone might be an important element in the origins of life.