An interstellar synthesis of phosphorus oxoacids

Turner, Andrew M.; Bergantini, Alexandre; Abplanalp, Matthew J.; Zhu, Cheng; Góbi, Sándor; Sun, Bing‐Jian; Chao, Kang‐Heng; Chang, Agnes H. H.; Meinert, Cornelia

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-06415-7

Cited by 40 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…S2). For the phosphorus oxoacids, hydroxyphosphine (H 2 POH) and phosphinic acid [H 2 P(O)OH] were probed, revealing consistent results with previously investigated ices of phosphine and water (18). In addition to methylphosphonic acid, both methylphosphine oxide (CH 3…”

Section: Photoionization Reflectron Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometrysupporting

confidence: 79%

Origin of alkylphosphonic acids in the interstellar medium

et al. 2019

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For decades, the source of phosphorus incorporated into Earth’s first organisms has remained a fundamental, unsolved puzzle. Although contemporary biomolecules incorporate P(+V) in their phosphate moieties, the limited bioavailability of phosphates led to the proposal that more soluble P(+III) compounds served as the initial source of phosphorus. Here, we report via laboratory simulation experiments that the three simplest alkylphosphonic acids, soluble organic phosphorus P(+III) compounds, can be efficiently generated in interstellar, phosphine-doped ices through interaction with galactic cosmic rays. This discovery opens a previously overlooked avenue into the formation of key molecules of astrobiological significance and untangles basic mechanisms of a facile synthesis of phosphorus-containing organics in extraterrestrial ices, which can be incorporated into comets and asteroids before their delivery and detection on Earth such as in the Murchison meteorite.

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Section: Photoionization Reflectron Time-of-flight Mass Spectrometrysupporting

confidence: 79%

Origin of alkylphosphonic acids in the interstellar medium

et al. 2019

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“…Finally, the PO group has also been recently observed 11 in the interstellar medium and, in addition to the discovery of prebiotic atoms (C,H,N,O, etc) and molecules (glycine, etc), this considerably reinforces the panspermia paradigm 12…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Photofragmentation and electron detachment of aromatic phosphonate, sulfonate and phosphate oxyanions

et al. 2021

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The photodetachment energy threshold, as well as vibrationally-resolved spectral signatures of the lower lying excited states and dipole bound states in model aromatic phosphonate, sulfonate and phosphate oxyanions have been investigated using a photofragmentation spectrometer equipped with a cold ion trap. The effect of the laser excitation was monitored by mass-selective detection of product ion fragments or, alternatively, measuring the yield of the complementary neutral radicals discriminated according to their kinetic energy. The anions phenylphosphate, phenylsulfonate and p-toluenesulfonate evidenced the expected behaviour, characterised by the predominance of ionic fragmentation processes, at low energies, rapidly evolving to a scenario controlled by the electron photodetachment channel at higher energies. Surprisingly for such a similar system, the phenylphosphonate anion does not have any ionic fragmentation channels and only exhibits the presence of dipole bound states.

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“…[4,5] Through interaction with the internal ultraviolet (UV) field generated even within dense molecular clouds [6] and by energetic galactic cosmic ray particles (GCRs), energies of up to 0.3-3.0 eV per molecule are deposited on average into each molecule within the ices over typical life times of these clouds of 10 6 -10 7 years. [7] This energy deposition initiates chemical bond breaking processes and the synthesis of new molecules via nonequilibrium processes such as amino acids, [8][9][10][11] dipeptides, [12] astrobiologically important phosphorus bearing molecules like (di)phosphates [13] and alkylphosphonic acids, [14] along with sugar-related molecules such as glycolaldehyde (HCOCH2OH). [15] One key class of the organics detected are carbonyl-bearing (−C=O) species including molecules with an aldehyde group (−CHO) (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%