Prebiotic significance of extraterrestrial ice photochemistry: detection of hydantoin in organic residues. - Archive ouverte HAL
Article Dans Une Revue Astrobiology Année : 2011

Prebiotic significance of extraterrestrial ice photochemistry: detection of hydantoin in organic residues.

Pierre de Marcellus
  • Fonction : Auteur
Marylène Bertrand
Michel Nuevo
  • Fonction : Auteur
Frances Westall
Louis Le Sergeant D’hendecourt
  • Fonction : Auteur
  • PersonId : 1311845
  • IdRef : 033541442

Résumé

The delivery of extraterrestrial organic materials to primitive Earth from meteorites or micrometeorites has long been postulated to be one of the origins of the prebiotic molecules involved in the subsequent apparition of life. Here, we report on experiments in which vacuum UV photo-irradiation of interstellar/circumstellar ice analogues containing H(2)O, CH(3)OH, and NH(3) led to the production of several molecules of prebiotic interest. These were recovered at room temperature in the semi-refractory, water-soluble residues after evaporation of the ice. In particular, we detected small quantities of hydantoin (2,4-imidazolidinedione), a species suspected to play an important role in the formation of poly- and oligopeptides. In addition, hydantoin is known to form under extraterrestrial, abiotic conditions, since it has been detected, along with various other derivatives, in the soluble part of organic matter of primitive carbonaceous meteorites. This result, together with other related experiments reported recently, points to the potential importance of the photochemistry of interstellar "dirty" ices in the formation of organics in Solar System materials. Such molecules could then have been delivered to the surface of primitive Earth, as well as other telluric (exo-) planets, to help trigger first prebiotic reactions with the capacity to lead to some form of primitive biomolecular activity.

Domaines

Chimie organique
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Dates et versions

hal-00720601 , version 1 (25-07-2012)

Identifiants

Citer

Pierre de Marcellus, Marylène Bertrand, Michel Nuevo, Frances Westall, Louis Le Sergeant D’hendecourt. Prebiotic significance of extraterrestrial ice photochemistry: detection of hydantoin in organic residues.. Astrobiology, 2011, 11 (9), pp.847-54. ⟨10.1089/ast.2011.0677⟩. ⟨hal-00720601⟩
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