Carbon Compounds in Pyrolysates and Amino Acids in Extracts of Apollo 14 Lunar Samples

Modzeleski, Vincent E.; Modzeleski, J. E.; Mohammed, Mais A.; Nagy, Lois Anne; Nagy, Bartholomew; McEwan, William S.; Urey, Harold C.; Hamilton, Paul B.

doi:10.1038/physci242050a0

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Soluble organic analyses of sample return material often involve applying the same techniques as those used for analyzing carbonaceous chondrites. In fact, many of these chromatographic techniques were developed or refined to analyze the lunar samples returned by the NASA Apollo 11, 12, 14–17 missions [29,30,31,32,33,34,35]. Future analyses of samples returned from asteroid Ryugu by JAXA’s Hayabusa2 mission and from asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission [36] are expected to apply an array of methods.…”

Section: Sample Typesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methodologies for Analyzing Soluble Organic Compounds in Extraterrestrial Samples: Amino Acids, Amines, Monocarboxylic Acids, Aldehydes, and Ketones

Simkus

Aponte

Elsila

et al. 2019

Life

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Soluble organic compositions of extraterrestrial samples offer valuable insights into the prebiotic organic chemistry of the solar system. This review provides a summary of the techniques commonly used for analyzing amino acids, amines, monocarboxylic acids, aldehydes, and ketones in extraterrestrial samples. Here, we discuss possible effects of various experimental factors (e.g., extraction protocols, derivatization methods, and chromatographic techniques) in order to highlight potential influences on the results obtained from different methodologies. This detailed summary and assessment of current techniques is intended to serve as a basic guide for selecting methodologies for soluble organic analyses and to emphasize some key considerations for future method development.

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Section: Sample Typesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methodologies for Analyzing Soluble Organic Compounds in Extraterrestrial Samples: Amino Acids, Amines, Monocarboxylic Acids, Aldehydes, and Ketones

Simkus

Aponte

Elsila

et al. 2019

Life

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“…Para além da análise do gelo lunar, também o rególito lunar tem sido alvo de análises de compostos químicos desde as missões Apollo nos anos 1970 até aos dias de hoje. Pequenas quantidades de hidrocarbonetos, HCN, DCN e aminoácidos foram detetados no rególito lunar [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. Até aos recentes estudos de Elsila e colegas [18], a origem exata das moléculas orgânicas detetadas em amostras lunares permaneceu desconhecida, tendo sido sugerido quatro potenciais origens: i) contaminação terrestre durante o manuseamento e análise das amostras lunares, ii) contaminação terrestre a partir do motor de escape do módulo lunar, iii) vento solar, e iv) entrega exógena por meteoritos carbonáceos, cometas ou partículas de poeira interplanetária [10,12,14,17,19 -22].…”

Section: Compostos Orgânicos Em Rególito Lunarunclassified

Análises químicas da matéria orgânica presente em amostras lunares

Martins¹

2019

BSPQuimica

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ArtigosChemical analysis of organic matter present in lunar samples -Primitive celestial bodies, particularly those containing ice, preserve information that goes back to the formation of the solar system. Hence, research on primitive celestial bodies is crucial to explain the origin and evolution of these bodies and the origin of life in our solar system. The permanently shaded regions (PSRs) of the Moon's polar ice preserve volatile and organic compounds that have been delivered by comets and/or asteroids. On the other hand, the lunar regolith contains organic compounds, but its origin was recently determined to be terrestrial contamination during the handling of samples returned by the Apollo space missions in the 1970s. The chemical analyses of the organic matter present in lunar samples shows the importance of the curation of primitive materials from our solar system.

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“…The presence of organic compounds in lunar regolith was one of the most eagerly studied questions upon initial return of lunar samples by the Apollo missions and continues to motivate investigations today. Numerous early studies probed the returned lunar soil for organics, detecting small amounts of certain compounds, including hydrocarbons, urea, and amino acids (Fox et al., 1973; Gehrke et al., 1972; Harada et al., 1971; Hare et al., 1970; Modzeleski et al., 1973; Nagy et al., 1970, 1971). Amino acids, the monomers of proteins and essential to all life on Earth, were the subject of intense interest, with multiple detections reported (e.g., Fox et al., 1976; Gehrke et al., 1975; Hamilton & Nagy, 1972; Harada et al., 1971; Nagy et al., 1971).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soluble Organic Compounds and Cyanide in Apollo 17 Lunar Samples: Origins and Curation Effects

Elsila,

Aponte,

McLain

et al. 2024

JGR Planets

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We analyzed 12 Apollo 17 samples through the Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA) program to determine the abundances of a variety of compound classes, including amino acids, aldehydes, ketones, amines, carboxylic acids, and cyanide‐releasing species. Analyzed samples included portions of double drive tube 73001/73002, the bottom half of which (73001) was hermetically sealed under lunar vacuum, as well as lunar regolith samples from three different illumination environments that had been curated frozen for ∼50 years. Consistent with previous results, we detected low levels of amino acids in the hot‐water extracts of most samples (0.55–12.03 nmol/g in unhydrolyzed samples; 0.53–72.38 nmol/g after acid hydrolysis of the extracts). We also detected one‐carbon and two‐carbon species of amines, aldehydes, and carboxylic acids (i.e., methylamine, ethylamine, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, formic acid, acetic acid) not previously reported in lunar samples, as well as insoluble cyanide‐forming species. Although these compounds are potential precursor molecules for amino acids, no specific precursor relationships could be determined. Nylon contamination was the likely source of some amino acids. Abundances of some species (e.g., cyanide) decreased with increasing depth in the drive tube, suggesting that exogenous delivery and concentration mechanisms near the surface outweighed surface degradation processes. In addition, we observed the potential cold trapping of volatile amines in the persistently shadowed samples analyzed. Finally, we noted the effects of different curation conditions; hermetic sealing appeared to preserve higher amounts of volatile compounds, while frozen curation did not have a noticeable preservation effect on the organic volatiles analyzed here.

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Carbon Compounds in Pyrolysates and Amino Acids in Extracts of Apollo 14 Lunar Samples

Cited by 10 publications

References 6 publications

Methodologies for Analyzing Soluble Organic Compounds in Extraterrestrial Samples: Amino Acids, Amines, Monocarboxylic Acids, Aldehydes, and Ketones

Methodologies for Analyzing Soluble Organic Compounds in Extraterrestrial Samples: Amino Acids, Amines, Monocarboxylic Acids, Aldehydes, and Ketones

Análises químicas da matéria orgânica presente em amostras lunares

Soluble Organic Compounds and Cyanide in Apollo 17 Lunar Samples: Origins and Curation Effects

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