Formation of prebiochemical compounds in models of the primitive Earth's atmosphere (original) (raw)

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Understanding the formation of organic compounds in the primitive Earth's atmosphere is crucial for unraveling the origins of life and the chemical pathways that led to prebiotic chemistry. This study successfully demonstrated that the composition of the initial atmospheric mixtures significantly influences the synthesis of key organic compounds, revealing that nitrogen-rich environments favor the production of important precursors like cyanogen and cyanoacetylene.

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Abstract

In order to understand the formation of organic compounds in the primitive atmosphere, the first steps of evolution in models of the primitive atmosphere were investigated. Mixtures containing C−H−N elements were subjected to a low pressure silent electric discharge for several seconds, and the resulting effluents were analysed mainly by gas chromatography, infrared spectrometry and chemical analysis. The formation of hydrocarbons (i.e. ethylene, acetylene, methylacetylene) and of nitrogen containing compounds (i.e. hydrogen cyanide, cyanogen, saturated nitriles, acrylonitrile, cyanoacetylene) is reported. The influence of the initial mixture composition on the amount of compounds formed was systematically studied. The nature of the nitrogen source (N2 or NH3) in the primitive atmosphere has a great influence on the amount and on the very nature of the synthesized products. It is shown that important precursors such as cyanogen and cyanoacetylene are formed only in very rich N2 mediums. There results show the important role played by the nature of the primitive atmosphere in the determination of the chemical evolution pathways.

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1. Laboratoire d'Energétique Biochimique, Université de Paris-Valde Marne, 94000, Creteil, France
   G. Toupance, F. Raulin & R. Buvet

Authors

1. G. Toupance
2. F. Raulin
3. R. Buvet

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Toupance, G., Raulin, F. & Buvet, R. Formation of prebiochemical compounds in models of the primitive Earth's atmosphere.Origins Life Evol Biosphere 6, 83–90 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01372392

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• Issue date: January 1975
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01372392

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