Analysis of Titan tholin pyrolysis products by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography–time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Self-assembly of tholins in environments simulating Titan liquidospheres: implications for formation of primitive coacervates on Titan

“…They reported that tholins were composed of hydrogen cyanide, acetonitrile, long-chained unsaturated nitriles, aromatic compounds such as benzene and toluene and nitrogencontaining heteroaromatics such as pyridine and pyrrole. McGuigan et al (2006) analysed the tholins by pyrolysistwo-dimensional gas chromatography/time of flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC-TOF-MS). Since Py-GC/MS analysis provides such rich information about chemical composition, the Huygens probe loaded an Aerosol Collector and Pyrolyser (ACP) for in situ characterization of aerosols in Titan's atmosphere.…”

“…A variety of organic compounds including amino acids and carboxylic acids were identified (Nguyen et al 2008). From the Py-GC/MS results, it was suggested that tholins by both DC and RF discharge contain aromatic compounds such as benzene, toluene and heterocyclic compounds like pyrrole and pyridine (Ehrenfreund et al 1995;McGuigan et al 2006). Horst et al (2012) also identified various organic compounds including amino acids and nucleotide bases without hydrolysis for tholins synthesis in a similar way with Szopa et al (2006), Nguyen et al (2008) and Carrasco et al (2009) Fluorescence properties of tholins Hodyss et al (2004) synthesized tholins by AC electrical discharge in gas mixtures of CH 4 and N 2 (1 mbar, 2 : 98 or 10 : 90, v/v) at 195 K. When the synthesized tholins were dissolved in acetonitrile, the fluorescence excitation spectra showed a peak at 410 nm, with an emission peak at 471 nm.…”

NMR identification of hexamethylenetetramine and its precursor in Titan tholins: Implications for Titan prebiotic chemistry

“…These tholins have been studied quite extensively by various methods including UV/Vis spectroscopy (Imanaka et al, 2004), IR spectroscopy (Sagan et al, 1993;Imanaka et al, 2004;Ramirez et al, 2004;Ruiz-Bermejo et al, 2008, UV/Vis fluorescence (Hodyss et al, 2004), pyrolysis-chromatography (McGuigan et al, 2006), mass spectrometry (Sarker et al, 2003;Hodyss et al, 2004;McGuigan et al, 2006;Somogyi et al, 2006;Ruiz-Bermejo et al, 2009;Neish et al, 2009Neish et al, , 2010Imanaka and Smith, 2010) as well as NMR spectroscopy (Sagan et al, 1993;Clarke et al, 2000;Ramirez et al, 2004;Ruiz-Bermejo et al, 2008He et al, 2012a;Derenne et al, 2012). General properties and insight into the functionality of the tholin material has been obtained through these studies, but a definitive organic structural or functional group inventory remains to be determined.…”

“…General properties and insight into the functionality of the tholin material has been obtained through these studies, but a definitive organic structural or functional group inventory remains to be determined. Gas chromatography has led to the definitive identification of the volatile components of tholins with the majority of compounds being saturated organic nitriles Raulin et al, 1999;McGuigan et al, 2006). However, the molecules identified cannot explain the reactivity of the tholin material.…”

Toward an experimental synthesis of the chondritic insoluble organic matter

“…Pyrolysis-GC-MS is commonly used to study macromolecular OM in terrestrial samples like kerogens and coals but also in extraterrestrial samples such as meteorites (Murae 1995;Komiya and Shimoyama 1996;Remusat et al 2005a;Okumura and Mimura 2011;Sephton 2013) and tholins (Khare et al 1981;McGuigan et al 2006;Szopa et al 2006). The IOM synthesized in this study was therefore analyzed using Curie point pyrolysis.…”