Detection of Interstellar Ethylene Oxide (c‐C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>4</sub>O)

Dickens, J. E.; Irvine, William M.; Ohishi, Masatoshi; Ikeda, Masafumi; Ishikawa, Shinya; Nummelin, A.; Hjalmarson, Å.

doi:10.1086/304821

Cited by 136 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Sgr B2(N-LMH) is a uniquely rich hot core region where many complex species, including c-C 2 H 4 O and CH 2 CHOH, were first identified. As evident in Figure 4, emission of c-C 2 H 4 O toward Sgr B2(N) is largely resolved out, indicating that its distribution is rather extended as was suggested by Dickens et al (1997) based on their observed line-width vs. beam-size relation. CH 3 CHO emission is found to arise from Sgr B2(N), extending toward the south-west.…”

Section: The Imaging Of the C 2 H 4 O Isomeric Tripletsupporting

confidence: 56%

“…While HCOOCH 3 and CH 3 CHO were discovered in the 1970s, the remaining species (CH 3 COOH, c-C 2 H 4 O, HOCH 2 CHO, and CH 2 CHOH) were identified only fairly recently, all toward Sgr B2 Dickens et al 1997;Hollis, Lovas, & Jewell 2000;Turner & Apponi 2001). For the C 2 H 4 O 2 family, observations of HOCH 2 CHO with the BIMA array showed, surprisingly, that it existed largely in an extended region toward Sgr B2(N).…”

Section: The Imaging Of the C 2 H 4 O Isomeric Tripletmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Interferometric Observations of Complex Organic Molecules

Liu

2006

IAU

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Abstract. Rich molecular complexity has been shown to exist in star forming regions primarily through millimeter to submillimeter single-dish spectral line surveys or searches over the years. With a few case studies, we demonstrate that interferometric observations are a powerful tool for advancing our knowledge of the chemical processes related to the formation of complex organic molecules in these regions. In particular, interferometers are sensitive to compact structures, such as those of the so called "hot molecular core" sources where complex organics are almost exclusively found. The high angular resolutions achieved by interferometers allow us to better spatially discriminate chemical differentiation and, possibly, evolutionary effects.

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Section: The Imaging Of the C 2 H 4 O Isomeric Tripletsupporting

confidence: 56%

Section: The Imaging Of the C 2 H 4 O Isomeric Tripletmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interferometric Observations of Complex Organic Molecules

Liu

2006

IAU

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“…At least one example from the present set of compounds is likely to be ethylene glycol. A partial origin of this abundant meteoritic compound could well be its facile formation in aqueous solution (32) from interstellar ethylene oxide-a cyclic precursor molecule and constituent of interstellar grains (33,34). However, before later aqueous reactions on asteroid parent bodies, small molecules bound to interstellar/presolar grains (the building blocks of asteroids and comets) were subjected to radiative (9) and other processing in the forming Solar System.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enantiomer excesses of rare and common sugar derivatives in carbonaceous meteorites

Cooper

Rios

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

123

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Biological polymers such as nucleic acids and proteins are constructed of only one-the D or L-of the two possible nonsuperimposable mirror images (enantiomers) of selected organic compounds. However, before the advent of life, it is generally assumed that chemical reactions produced 50:50 (racemic) mixtures of enantiomers, as evidenced by common abiotic laboratory syntheses. Carbonaceous meteorites contain clues to prebiotic chemistry because they preserve a record of some of the Solar System's earliest (∼4.5 Gy) chemical and physical processes. In multiple carbonaceous meteorites, we show that both rare and common sugar monoacids (aldonic acids) contain significant excesses of the D enantiomer, whereas other (comparable) sugar acids and sugar alcohols are racemic. Although the proposed origins of such excesses are still tentative, the findings imply that meteoritic compounds and/or the processes that operated on meteoritic precursors may have played an ancient role in the enantiomer composition of life's carbohydrate-related biopolymers.carbonaceous meteorites | sugar acids | enantiomer excesses | aldonic acids | polyols T he organic phase of carbonaceous meteorites comprises an insoluble "macromolecular" material (1-3), a complex mixture of largely uncharacterized solvent-extractable compounds (4), as well as discrete (identified) soluble organic compounds such as amino acids (3, 5) nucleobases (6, 7), and sugar derivatives (8). Analyses of this prebiotic organic carbon have been important in understanding its early Solar System synthesis and history: Characteristics of the organic phase suggest that it consists of both products and survivors of interstellar/presolar grain irradiation (9) and subsequent encapsulation and aqueous reactions (10, 11) in asteroids "parent bodies."Several identified meteoritic organic compounds are chiral: They can exist as two nonsuperimposable mirror image compounds called enantiomers, commonly designated D and L. To date, most chiral meteoritic compounds are reported to be racemic mixtures, i.e., their D and L enantiomers are equal in abundance (3). Racemic compounds are expected in nature because typical abiotic synthetic processes are (historically) thought to occur in the absence of asymmetric influences. Racemic mixtures are equated with pristine/uncontaminated abiotic samples when discussing meteoritic compounds. However, some meteoritic amino acids that are rare on Earth, i.e., they are not constituents of proteins and therefore less likely to be contaminants, have been confirmed to contain L enantiomer excesses (EE) (3, 12, 13). The origins of such excesses are unknown.Sugars, aldehydes, or ketones that contain multiple carbon hydroxyl (carbon alcohol) groups, are also chiral and were likely necessary for the origin of life. In the majority of extant biological sugars and derivatives ("polyols"), the D enantiomers are significantly more abundant than the L enantiomers (we will note exceptions in Results and Natural Occurrence of Relevant Sugar Derivatives and Enantiomers)...

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“…Among the isomeric groups of polyatomic species, the isomeric family with molecular formula of C n H 2n O is of special interest, since these molecules may represent the astrochemical evolution of the interstellar medium and have potential prebiotic importance ( Turner & Apponi 2001;Charnley 2004;Kuan et al 2004). The members of this family include formaldehyde (Snyder et al 1969), acetaldehyde (Gottlieb 1973), acetone (Combes et al 1987), ethylene oxide (Dickens et al 1997), ethenol (Turner & Apponi 2001), and propanal (Hollis et al 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interstellar Enols Are Formed in Plasma Discharges of Alcohols

Wang

Zhang

et al. 2008

ApJ

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Laboratory low-pressure cold plasma discharges, which are used to simulate some hot core environments in the star-forming region, have been investigated by employing single-photon vacuum ultraviolet ( VUV) photoionization mass spectrometry. Enols with two to four carbon atoms were detected in plasma discharges of alcohols, indicating that enols can result from alcohol destruction induced by ultraviolet and cosmic radiation and accelerated electrons that are abundant in the interstellar medium. This observation, together with the detection of ethenol toward Sgr B2, suggests that larger enols, such as propenols and butenols, should be in the search list of potential molecular species to be identified in interstellar space. The laboratory experiment presented here shows that VUV photoionization sampling of plasma discharges is a valuable method for guiding the search for new interstellar molecules and helping to understand the transformation mechanism of molecular species of astrochemical significance.

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Detection of Interstellar Ethylene Oxide (c‐C₂H₄O)

Cited by 136 publications

References 19 publications

Interferometric Observations of Complex Organic Molecules

Interferometric Observations of Complex Organic Molecules

Enantiomer excesses of rare and common sugar derivatives in carbonaceous meteorites

Interstellar Enols Are Formed in Plasma Discharges of Alcohols

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Detection of Interstellar Ethylene Oxide (c‐C2H4O)

Cited by 136 publications

References 19 publications

Interferometric Observations of Complex Organic Molecules

Interferometric Observations of Complex Organic Molecules

Enantiomer excesses of rare and common sugar derivatives in carbonaceous meteorites

Interstellar Enols Are Formed in Plasma Discharges of Alcohols

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Detection of Interstellar Ethylene Oxide (c‐C₂H₄O)