In Situ Analyses of Tholins Using DMF-DMA Derivatization For DraMS Instrument Onboard The Future Dragonfly Mission
Analyses in situ des tholins à l'aide de la dérivatisation DMF-DMA pour l'instrument DraMS à bord de la future mission Dragonfly
Résumé
To prepare for the future mission Dragonfly [1,2], and the in situ analyses of Titan samples with the Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DraMS) instrument [3], laboratory sample preparation and analysis with Gas Chromatographic – Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) has to be developed and optimized. For this astrobiologically focused mission, one of the objectives is the detection and quantification of heavy and complex organics relevant for prebiotic chemistry [2]. For instance, amino acids are one of the targets as they constitute proteins necessary for life [4]. One of the reagents that is carried within DraMS, called dimethylformamide dimethyl acetal (DMF-DMA), will help to volatilize refractory and polar organic molecules in order to be analyzed by GC-MS [5,6]. To prepare the derivatization experiment, we have investigated the analysis of Titan analogs [4,7,8] and the efficiency of the DMF-DMA reagent to derivatize low volatility organics under DraMS-like conditions. DMF-DMA will also be used to preserve the chiral conformation of derivatized organics [5] – separated on a chiral column – to enable the detection of an enantiomeric excess. Enantiomeric excess of amino acids, for example, represents a potential biosignature if found on the surface of Titan [9].
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Abscicon 2022 Tholins derivatization Boulesteix David.pdf (491.38 Ko)
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