Publication Date:
1999-02-19
Description:
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in water ice were exposed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation under astrophysical conditions, and the products were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Peripheral carbon atoms were oxidized, producing aromatic alcohols, ketones, and ethers, and reduced, producing partially hydrogenated aromatic hydrocarbons, molecules that account for the interstellar 3.4-micrometer emission feature. These classes of compounds are all present in carbonaceous meteorites. Hydrogen and deuterium atoms exchange readily between the PAHs and the ice, which may explain the deuterium enrichments found in certain meteoritic molecules. This work has important implications for extraterrestrial organics in biogenesis.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Bernstein, M P -- Sandford, S A -- Allamandola, L J -- Gillette, J S -- Clemett, S J -- Zare, R N -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 1999 Feb 19;283(5405):1135-8.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉NASA-Ames Research Center, Mail Stop 245-6, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000, USA. mbernstein@mail.arc.nasa.gov〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10024233" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Alcohols/chemistry
;
Astronomical Phenomena
;
Astronomy
;
Deuterium/chemistry
;
Ethers/chemistry
;
*Evolution, Chemical
;
*Exobiology
;
Hydrogen/chemistry
;
*Ice
;
Mass Spectrometry
;
Meteoroids
;
Origin of Life
;
Oxidation-Reduction
;
Photolysis
;
Polycyclic Hydrocarbons, Aromatic/*chemistry
;
Quinones/chemistry
;
Spectrophotometry, Infrared
;
*Ultraviolet Rays
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
