Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T04:59:48.710Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Radiolysis of solid-state nitrogen heterocycles provides clues to their abundance in the early solar system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 July 2018

Phillip G. Hammer ,
Ruiqin Yi ,
Isao Yoda ,
H. James Cleaves II  and
Michael P. Callahan
Phillip G. Hammer
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725, USA
Ruiqin Yi
Affiliation:
Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
Isao Yoda
Affiliation:
Research Laboratory for Nuclear Reactors, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
H. James Cleaves II
Affiliation:
Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, WA 98154, USA
Michael P. Callahan*
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Michael P. Callahan, E-mail: michaelcallahan914@boisestate.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We studied the radiolysis of a wide variety of N-heterocycles, including many of biological importance, and find that the majority are remarkably stable in the solid-state when subjected to large doses of ionizing gamma radiation from a 60Co source. Degradation of N-heterocycles as a function of dose rate and total dose was measured using high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection. Many N-heterocycles show little degradation when γ-irradiated up to a total dose of ~1 MGy, which approximates hundreds of millions of years’ worth of radiation emitted in meteorite parent bodies due to slow radionuclide decay. Extrapolation of these results suggests that these N-heterocyclic compounds would be stable in dry parent bodies over solar system timescales. We suggest that the abundance of these N-heterocycles as measured presently in carbonaceous meteorites is largely reflective of their abundance at the time aqueous alteration stopped in their parent bodies and the absence of certain compounds in present-day samples is either due to the formation mechanisms or degradation which occurred during periods of aqueous alteration or thermal metamorphism.

Keywords

Meteoritesnitrogen heterocyclesnucleobasesradiolysis
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , August 2019 , pp. 289 - 295
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bernstein, MP, Sandford, SA, Allamandola, LJ, Chang, S and Scharberg, MA (1995) Organic-compounds produced by photolysis of realistic interstellar and cometary ice analogs containing methanol. Astrophysical Journal 454, 327–344.Google Scholar
Browning, LB, McSween, HY and Zolensky, ME (1996) Correlated alteration effects in CM carbonaceous chondrites. Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta 60, 2621–2633.Google Scholar
Burton, AS, Stern, JC, Elsila, JE, Glavin, DP and Dworkin, JP (2012) Understanding prebiotic chemistry through the analysis of extraterrestrial amino acids and nucleobases in meteorites. Chemical Society Reviews 41, 5459–5472.Google Scholar
Callahan, MP, Smith, KE, Cleaves, HJ II, Ruzicka, J, Stern, JC, Glavin, DP, House, CH and Dworkin, JP (2011) Carbonaceous meteorites contain a wide range of extraterrestrial nucleobases. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108, 13995–13998.Google Scholar
Cataldo, F, Angelini, G, Iglesias-Groth, S and Manchado, A (2011 a) Solid state radiolysis of amino acids in an astrochemical perspective. Radiation Physics and Chemistry 80, 57–65.Google Scholar
Cataldo, F, Ragni, P, Iglesias-Groth, S and Manchado, A (2011 b) A detailed analysis of the properties of radiolyzed proteinaceous amino acids. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry 287, 903–911.Google Scholar
Cherubini, C, Ursini, O, Cataldo, F, Iglesias-Groth, S and Crestoni, ME (2014) Mass spectrometric analysis of selected radiolyzed amino acids in an astrochemical context. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry 300, 1061–1073.Google Scholar
Chyba, C and Sagan, C (1992) Endogenous production, exogenous delivery and impact-shock synthesis of organic molecules: an inventory for the origins of life. Nature 355, 125–132.Google Scholar
Cronin, JR and Pizzarello, S (1997) Enantiomeric excesses in meteoritic amino acids. Science 275, 951–955.Google Scholar
Diehl, R, Dupraz, C, Bennett, K, Bloemen, H, Hermsen, W, Knodlseder, J, Lichti, G, Morris, D, Ryan, J, Schonfelder, V, Steinle, H, Strong, A, Swanenburg, B, Varendorff, M and Winkler, C (1995) COMPTEL observations of Galactic 26Al emission. Astronomy & Astrophysics 298, 445–460.Google Scholar
Draganic, IG, Draganic, ZD and Vujosevic, S (1984) Some radiation-chemical aspects of chemistry in cometary nuclei. Icarus 60, 464–475.Google Scholar
Ferris, JP and Hagan, WJ (1984) HCN and chemical evolution: the possible role of cyano compounds in prebiotic synthesis. Tetrahedron 40, 1093–1120.Google Scholar
Ferris, JP, Joshi, PC, Edelson, EH and Lawless, JG (1978) HCN: a plausible source of purines, pyrimidines and amino acids on the primitive Earth. Journal of Molecular Evolution 11, 293–311.Google Scholar
Glavin, DP and Dworkin, JP (2009) Enrichment of the amino acid L-isovaline by aqueous alteration on CI and CM meteorite parent bodies. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106, 5487–5492.Google Scholar
Gomes, R, Levison, HF, Tsiganis, K and Morbidelli, A (2005) Origin of the cataclysmic Late Heavy Bombardment period of the terrestrial planets. Nature 435, 466–469.Google Scholar
Halliday, I, Blackwell, AT and Griffin, AA (1989) The flux of meteorites on the Earth’s surface. Meteoritics 24, 173–178.Google Scholar
Hudson, RL and Moore, MH (2001) Radiation chemical alterations in solar system ices: an overview. Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets 106(E12), 33275–33284.Google Scholar
Huss, GR, MacPherson, GJ, Wasserburg, GJ, Russell, SS and Srinivasan, G (2001) Aluminum-26 in calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions and chondrules from unequilibrated ordinary chondrites. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 36, 975–997.Google Scholar
Iglesias-Groth, S, Cataldo, F, Ursini, O and Manchado, A (2011) Amino acids in comets and meteorites: stability under gamma radiation and preservation of the enantiomeric excess. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 410, 1447–1453.Google Scholar
Lee, T, Papanastassiou, DA and Wasserburg, GJ (1976) Demonstration of 26Mg excess in Allende and evidence for 26Al. Geophysical Research Letters 3, 109–112.Google Scholar
Lee, T, Shu, FH, Shang, H, Glassgold, AE and Rehm, KE (1998) Protostellar cosmic rays and extinct radioactivities in meteorites. Astrophysical Journal 506, 898–912.Google Scholar
Macpherson, GJ, Davis, AM and Zinner, EK (1995) The distribution of aluminum-26 in the early Solar System–a reappraisal. Meteoritics 30, 365–386.Google Scholar
Marciniec, B, Stawny, M, Olszewski, K, Kozak, M and Naskrent, M (2013) Analytical study on irradiated methylxanthine derivatives. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry 111, 2165–2170.Google Scholar
Martins, Z, Botta, O, Fogel, ML, Sephton, MA, Glavin, DP, Watson, JS, Dworkin, JP, Schwartz, AW and Ehrenfreund, P (2008) Extraterrestrial nucleobases in the Murchison meteorite. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 270, 130–136.Google Scholar
McKeegan, KD, Chaussidon, M and Robert, F (2000) Incorporation of short-lived 10Be in a calcium-aluminum-rich inclusion from the Allende meteorite. Science 289, 1334–1337.Google Scholar
Miyakawa, S, Cleaves, HJ and Miller, SL (2002) The cold origin of life: B. Implications based on pyrimidines and purines produced from frozen ammonium cyanide solutions. Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biospheres 32, 209–218.Google Scholar
Oró, J (1961) Comets and formation of biochemical compounds on primitive Earth. Nature 190, 389–390.Google Scholar
Pilling, S, Andrade, DPP, do Nascimento, EM, Marinho, RRT, Boechat-Roberty, HM, de Coutinho, LH, de Souza, GGB, de Castilho, RB, Cavasso, RL, Lago, AF and de Brito, AN (2011) Photostability of gas- and solid-phase biomolecules within dense molecular clouds due to soft X-rays. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 411, 2214–2222.Google Scholar
Pizzarello, S and Cronin, JR (2000) Non-racemic amino acids in the Murray and Murchison meteorites. Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta 64, 329–338.Google Scholar
Russell, SS, Srinivasan, G, Huss, GR, Wasserburg, GJ and MacPherson, GJ (1996) Evidence for widespread 26Al in the solar nebula and constraints for nebula time scales. Science 273, 757–762.Google Scholar
Sanchez, RA, Ferris, JP and Orgel, LE (1967) Studies in prebiotic synthesis: II. Synthesis of purine precursors and amino acids from aqueous hydrogen cyanide. Journal of Molecular Biology 30, 223–253.Google Scholar
Schoenberg, R, Kamber, BS, Collerson, KD and Moorbath, S (2002) Tungsten isotope evidence from ~3.8-Gyr metamorphosed sediments for early meteorite bombardment of the Earth. Nature 418, 403–405.Google Scholar
Sephton, MA (2002) Organic compounds in carbonaceous meteorites. Natural Product Reports 19, 292–311.Google Scholar
Smith, KE, Callahan, MP, Gerakines, PA, Dworkin, JP and House, CH (2014) Investigation of pyridine carboxylic acids in CM2 carbonaceous chondrites: potential precursor molecules for ancient coenzymes. Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta 136, 1–12.Google Scholar
Stoks, PG and Schwartz, AW (1979) Uracil in carbonaceous meteorites. Nature 282, 709–710.Google Scholar
Stoks, PG and Schwartz, AW (1981) Nitrogen-heterocyclic compounds in meteorites: significance and mechanisms of formation. Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta 45, 563–569.Google Scholar
Stoks, PG and Schwartz, AW (1982) Basic nitrogen-heterocyclic compounds in the Murchison meteorite. Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta 46, 309–315.Google Scholar
Urey, HC (1955) The cosmic abundances of potassium, uranium, and thorium and the heat balances of the Earth, the Moon, and Mars. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 41, 127–144.Google Scholar
Urey, HC (1956) The cosmic abundances of potassium, uranium, and thorium and the heat balances of the Earth, the Moon, and Mars. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 42, 889–891.Google Scholar
Vandervelden, W and Schwartz, AW (1977) Search for purines and pyrimidines in Murchison meteorite. Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta 41, 961–968.Google Scholar
Wilson, L, Keil, K, Browning, LB, Krot, AN and Bourcier, W (1999) Early aqueous alteration, explosive disruption, and reprocessing of asteroids. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 34, 541–557.Google Scholar