Amino acids formed from the UV/EUV irradiation of inorganic ices of astrophysical interest

Nuevo, Michel; Chen, Y.-J.; Yih, T. S.; Ip, W.-H.; Fung, H. S.; Cheng, Cheanyeh; Tsai, Hsieh‐Chih; Wu, C. Y. Robert

doi:10.1016/j.asr.2007.04.056

Cited by 23 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…These experiments also show that UV photons can break the pyrimidine ring, leading to the formation of small aliphatic molecules such as urea and the amino acid glycine in measurable quantities (Nuevo et al 2012). As previously observed in other simple ice mixtures, for example ices in which amino acids are formed (Bernstein et al 2002a;Muñoz Caro et al 2002;Nuevo et al 2007Nuevo et al , 2008, the list of products formed is relatively insensitive to the ratios of the starting H 2 O and pyrimidine, though their relative abundances vary.…”

Section: Synthesis Of Pyrimidine-based Nucleobases In Extraterrestriamentioning

confidence: 53%

“…If this is so, then biologically relevant molecules such as nucleobases might be formed via photo-processes of pyrimidine in ices, the same way other organic compounds such as amino acids are probably formed in similar environments (Bernstein et al 2002a;Muñoz Caro et al 2002;Nuevo et al 2007Nuevo et al , 2008.…”

Section: Synthesis Of Pyrimidine-based Nucleobases In Extraterrestriamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many of these species are of astrobiological interest and include amino acids (Bernstein et al 2002a;Muñoz Caro et al 2002;Nuevo et al 2007Nuevo et al , 2008, amphiphiles , as well as urea, glycerol, glyceric acid, hydantoin de Marcellus et al 2011), and, if aromatic species are present in the ices, quinones, ethers (Bernstein et al 1999b(Bernstein et al , 2001(Bernstein et al , 2002b(Bernstein et al , 2003Ashbourn et al 2007), and nucleobases (Nuevo et al 2009(Nuevo et al , 2012Materese et al 2013).…”

Section: Abiotic Extraterrestrial Chemistry and The Origin Of Lifementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, laboratory experiments performed with ices in which the initial sources of C, H, O, and N are different will still often yield similar products. For example, irradiation of ices yields amino acids independent of whether the initial carrier of C in the ices is CH 3 OH, CH 4 , or CO 2 (Bernstein et al 2002a;Muñoz Caro et al 2002;Nuevo et al 2007Nuevo et al , 2008, and whether the initial carrier of N is NH 3 or HCN ).…”

Section: Abiotic Extraterrestrial Chemistry and The Origin Of Lifementioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Photosynthesis and Photo-Stability of Nucleic Acids in Prebiotic Extraterrestrial Environments

Sandford

Bera

Lee

et al. 2014

Topics in Current Chemistry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Laboratory experiments have shown that the UV photo-irradiation of low-temperature ices of astrophysical interest leads to the formation of organic molecules, including molecules important for biology such as amino acids, quinones, and amphiphiles. When pyrimidine is introduced in these ices, the products of irradiation include the nucleobases uracil, cytosine, and thymine, the informational sub-units of DNA and RNA, as well as some of their isomers. The formation of these compounds, which has been studied both experimentally and theoretically, requires a succession of additions of OH, NH 2 , and CH 3 groups to pyrimidine. Results show that H 2 O ice plays key roles in the formation of the nucleobases, as an oxidant, as a matrix in which reactions can take place, and as a catalyst that assists proton abstraction from intermiediate compounds. As H 2 O is also the most abundant icy component in most cold astrophysical environments, it probably plays the same roles in space for the formation of biologically relevant compounds. Results also show that although the formation of uracil and cytosine from pyrimidine in ices is fairly straightforward, the formation of thymine is not. This is mostly due to the fact that methylation is a limiting step for its formation, particularly in H 2 O-rich ices, where methylation must competes with oxidation. The relative inefficiency of the abiotic formation of thymine to that of uracil and cytosine, coupled with the fact that thymine has not been detected in meteorites are not inconsistent with the RNA world hypothesis. Indeed, a lack of abiotically produced thymine delivered to the early Earth may have forced the choice for an RNA world, in which only uracil and cytosine are needed, but not thymine.

show abstract

Section: Synthesis Of Pyrimidine-based Nucleobases In Extraterrestriamentioning

confidence: 53%

Section: Synthesis Of Pyrimidine-based Nucleobases In Extraterrestriamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Abiotic Extraterrestrial Chemistry and The Origin Of Lifementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Abiotic Extraterrestrial Chemistry and The Origin Of Lifementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Photosynthesis and Photo-Stability of Nucleic Acids in Prebiotic Extraterrestrial Environments

Sandford

Bera

Lee

et al. 2014

Topics in Current Chemistry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In simulations in which they have been exposed to ultraviolet radiation and then warmed (Bernstein et al 2002;Muñoz Caro et al 2002;Nuevo et al 2007Nuevo et al , 2008, ices consisting of water containing simple organic compounds have produced a large number of amino acids and other complex organics.…”

Section: Information From Space Complemented By Experiments On Earthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of Ultraviolet Radiation in the Origin of Life

Björn

Qiu³

et al. 2014

Photobiology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Reaction Networks for Interstellar Chemical Modelling: Improvements and Challenges

Smith²,

et al. 2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We survey the current situation regarding chemical modelling of the synthesis of molecules in the interstellar medium. The present state of knowledge concerning the rate coefficients and their uncertainties for the major gas-phase processes-ion-neutral reactions, neutral-neutral reactions, radiative association, and dissociative recombination-is reviewed. Emphasis is placed on those key reactions that have been identified, by sensitivity analyses, as 'crucial' in determining the predicted abundances of the species observed in the interstellar medium. These sensitivity analyses have been carried out for gas-phase models of three representative, molecule-rich, astronomical sources: the cold dense molecular clouds TMC-1 and L134N, and the expanding circumstellar envelope IRC +10216. Our review has led to the proposal of new values and uncertainties for the rate coefficients of many of the key reactions. The impact of these new data on the predicted abundances in TMC-1 and L134N is reported. Interstellar dust particles also influence the observed abundances of molecules in the interstellar medium. Their role is included in gas-grain, as distinct from gas-phase only, models. We review the methods for incorporating both accretion onto, and reactions on, the surfaces of grains in such models, as well as describing some recent experimental efforts to simulate and examine relevant processes in the laboratory. These efforts include experiments on the surface-catalyzed recombination of hydrogen atoms, on chemical processing on and in the ices that are known to exist on the surface of interstellar grains, and on desorption processes, which may enable species formed on grains to return to the gas-phase.

show abstract

Amino acids formed from the UV/EUV irradiation of inorganic ices of astrophysical interest

Cited by 23 publications

References 20 publications

Photosynthesis and Photo-Stability of Nucleic Acids in Prebiotic Extraterrestrial Environments

Photosynthesis and Photo-Stability of Nucleic Acids in Prebiotic Extraterrestrial Environments

Role of Ultraviolet Radiation in the Origin of Life

Reaction Networks for Interstellar Chemical Modelling: Improvements and Challenges

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About