Synthesis of <sup>13</sup>C-enriched amino acids with <sup>13</sup>C-depleted insoluble organic matter in a formose-type reaction in the early solar system.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 33910902.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.abd3575 and PMC identifier 8081361.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
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Abstract
Solvent-soluble organic matter (SOM) in meteorites, which includes life's building molecules, is suspected to originate from the cold region of the early solar system, on the basis of <sup>13</sup>C enrichment in the molecules. Here, we demonstrate that the isotopic characteristics are reproducible in amino acid synthesis associated with a formose-type reaction in a heated aqueous solution. Both thermochemically driven formose-type reaction and photochemically driven formose-type reaction likely occurred in asteroids and ice-dust grains in the early solar system. Thus, the present results suggest that the formation of <sup>13</sup>C-enriched SOM was not specific to the cold outer protosolar disk or the molecular cloud but occurred more widely in the early solar system.