ON THE FORMATION OF AMIDE POLYMERS VIA CARBONYL–AMINO GROUP LINKAGES IN ENERGETICALLY PROCESSED ICES OF ASTROPHYSICAL RELEVANCE
- Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaii, 2545 McCarthy Mall, 96822 HI (United States)
- Department of Chemistry, National Dong Hwa University, Shoufeng, Hualien 974, Taiwan (China)
We report on the formation of organic amide polymers via carbonyl–amino group linkages in carbon monoxide and ammonia bearing energetically processed ices of astrophysical relevance. The first group comprises molecules with one carboxyl group and an increasing number of amine moieties starting with formamide (45 u), urea (60 u), and hydrazine carboxamide (75 u). The second group consists of species with two carboxyl (58 u) and up to three amine groups (73 u, 88 u, and 103 u). The formation and polymerization of these linkages from simple inorganic molecules via formamide und urea toward amide polymers is discussed in an astrophysical and astrobiological context. Our results show that long chain molecules, which are closely related to polypeptides, easily form by energetically processing simple, inorganic ices at very low temperatures and can be released into the gas phase by sublimation of the ices in star-forming regions. Our experimental results were obtained by employing reflectron time-of-flight mass spectroscopy, coupled with soft, single photon vacuum ultraviolet photoionization; they are complemented by theoretical calculations.
- OSTI ID:
- 22518542
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 820, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
ORGANIC
PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
AMINES
AMMONIA
ASTROPHYSICS
CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBONYLS
FORMAMIDE
HYDRAZINE
ICE
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
MOLECULES
PHOTOIONIZATION
POLYMERIZATION
POLYMERS
POLYPEPTIDES
STARS
TIME-OF-FLIGHT METHOD
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
UREA