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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
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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 

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