Carbon isotope evidence for the substrates and mechanisms of prebiotic synthesis in the early solar system

Chimiak, L.; Elsila, J. E.; Dallas, B.; Dworkin, J. P.; Aponte, J. C.; Sessions, A. L.; Eiler, J. M.

doi:10.1016/j.gca.2020.09.026

Carbon isotope evidence for the substrates and mechanisms of prebiotic synthesis in the early solar system

Journal Article · Tue Sep 29 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2020.09.026· OSTI ID:1852296

^[1]; Elsila, J. E. ^[2]; Dallas, B. ^[3]; Dworkin, J. P. ^[2]; ^[4]; ^[3]; Eiler, J. M. ^[3]

California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences; California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD (United States). Solar System Exploration Division
California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD (United States). Solar System Exploration Division; The Catholic Univ. of America, Washington, DC (United States). Dept. of Chemistry

Meteorites contain prebiotic, bio-relevant organic compounds including amino acids. Their syntheses could result from diverse sources and mechanisms and provide a window on the conditions and materials present in the early solar system. Here we constrain alanine’s synthetic history in the Murchison meteorite using site-specific ¹³C/¹²C measurements, reported relative to the VPDB standard. The δ¹³C_VPDB values of -29 ± 10‰, 142 ± 20‰, and -36 ± 20‰ for the carboxyl, amine-bound, and methyl carbons, respectively, are consistent with Strecker synthesis of interstellar-medium-derived aldehydes, ammonia, and low-δ¹³C nebular or interstellar-medium-derived CN. We report experimentally measured isotope effects associated with Strecker synthesis, and use them to constrain the δ¹³C values of the alanine precursors, which we then use to construct a model that predicts the molecular-average δ¹³C values of 19 other organic compounds of prebiotic significance found in Murchison if they were made by our proposed synthetic network. Finally, most of these predictions agree with previous measurements, suggesting that interstellar-medium-derived aldehydes and nebular and/or pre-solar CN could have served as substrates for synthesis of a wide range of prebiotic compounds in the early solar system.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); Simons Foundation

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0016561

OSTI ID:: 1852296

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1775805

Journal Information:: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Journal Name: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta Journal Issue: C Vol. 292; ISSN 0016-7037

Publisher:: Elsevier; The Geochemical Society; The Meteoritical SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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