Faculty Publications
Detection Of Prebiotic Molecules In Plasma And Photochemical Aerosol Analogs Using Gc/Ms/Ms Techniques
Document Type
Article
Keywords
Astrobiology, methods: analytical, planets and satellites: atmospheres, planets and satellites: composition
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Astrophysical Journal
Volume
865
Issue
2
Abstract
The formation and identification of prebiotic compounds in the organically rich atmospheres of Titan and Pluto are of great interest due to the potential implications such discoveries may have on theories of the origins of life on the early Earth. In past work, hindrances in detecting prebiotic molecules in lab-generated aerosol analogs have been the large number of products formed, often compounded by limited sample amounts. In this work, we detail a GC/MS/MS protocol that is highly selective (>30 simultaneously detectable compounds) and highly sensitive (limits of detection ∼1 picomole). Using this method to analyze aerosol analogs (tholins) generated by either cold plasma or photochemical irradiation of 1:1 mixtures of methane and carbon monoxide in nitrogen, this work has expanded the number of identifiable compounds in Titan/Pluto analog aerosols to include the nonbiological nucleobases xanthine and hypoxanthine in plasma aerosols and the first identification of glycine as a product in photochemical aerosols produced under reducing atmospheric conditions. Several species (glycine, guanidine, urea, and glycolic acid) were found to be present in both plasma and photochemical aerosols. Such parallel product pathways bring new understanding to the nature of plasma and photochemical aerosols and allow for new insights into the prebiotic chemistry of organically rich atmospheres including Pluto, Titan, and the early Earth.
Department
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Original Publication Date
10-1-2018
DOI of published version
10.3847/1538-4357/aadba1
Repository
UNI ScholarWorks, Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa
Language
en
Recommended Citation
Sebree, Joshua A.; Roach, Madeline C.; Shipley, Emma R.; He, Chao; and Hörst, Sarah M., "Detection Of Prebiotic Molecules In Plasma And Photochemical Aerosol Analogs Using Gc/Ms/Ms Techniques" (2018). Faculty Publications. 657.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/facpub/657
