Synthesis of Organic Matter in Aqueous Environments Simulating Small Bodies in the Solar System and the Effects of Minerals on Amino Acid Formation (original) (raw)

The extraterrestrial delivery of organics to primitive Earth has been supported by many laboratory and space experiments. Minerals played an important role in the evolution of meteoritic organic matter. In this study, we simulated aqueous alteration in small bodies by using a solution mixture of H2CO and NH3 in the presence of water at 150 °C under different heating durations, which produced amino acids after acid hydrolysis. Moreover, minerals were added to the previous mixture to examine their catalyzing/inhibiting impact on amino acid formation. Without minerals, glycine was the dominant amino acid obtained at 1 d of the heating experiment, while alanine and β-alanine increased significantly and became dominant after 3 to 7 d. Minerals enhanced the yield of amino acids at short heating duration (1 d); however, they induced their decomposition at longer heating duration (7 d). Additionally, montmorillonite enhanced amino acid production at 1 d, while olivine and serpentine enhance...

Sign up for access to the world's latest research.

checkGet notified about relevant papers

checkSave papers to use in your research

checkJoin the discussion with peers

checkTrack your impact