Publications 99-04

Publications 93-98

Press Radio TV

Lectures

Conferences

Research

Group

Amino acids from ultraviolet irradiation of interstellar ice analogues

Munoz Caro GM (1), Meierhenrich UJ (2,3), Schutte WA (1), Barbier B (2), 
Arcones Segovia A (1), Rosenbauer H (4), Thiemann WHP (3), 
Brack A (2), Greenberg JM (1)

(1) Raymond and Beverly Sackler Laboratory for Astrophysics at Leiden 
     Observatory, PO Box 9513, NL-2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
(2) Centre de Biophysique Moléculaire, Rue Charles Sadron, F-45160 Orléans, 
     France
(3) Bremen University, Department of Physical Chemistry, FB 02, Leobener 
     Straße, D-28359 Bremen, Germany
(4) Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie, Max-Planck-Str. 2, D-37189 
     Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany

Amino acids are the essential molecular components of living organisms on Earth, but the proposed mechanisms for their spontaneous generation have been unable to account for their presence in Earth's early history (1). The delivery of extraterrestrial organic compounds has been proposed as an alternative to generation on Earth (2-5), and some amino acids have been found in several meteorites (6-9). Here we report the detection of amino acids in the room-temperature residue of an interstellar ice analogue that was ultraviolet-irradiated in a high vacuum at 12 K. We identified 16 amino acids; the chiral ones showed enantiomeric separation. Some of the identified amino acids are also found in meteorites. Our results demonstrate that the spontaneous generation of amino acids in the interstellar medium is possible, supporting the suggestion that prebiotic molecules could have been delivered to the early Earth by cometary dust, meteorites or interplanetary dust particles.

Nature 416 (2002), 403-406

This article is the ISI Top Paper published in the last two-year period on "Comets".
It was cited in:
Tzvetkov G, Ramsey MG, Netzer FP: Irradiation of glycine with ice nanolayers.
     Chemical Physics Letters 397 (2004), 392-396.
Bailey J: Extraterrestrial chirality. IAU Symposia 213 (2004), 139-144.
Takano Y, Kaneko T, Kobayashi K. et al.: Experimental verification of photostability for free- and
      bound-amino acids exposed to gamma-rays and UV-irradiation.
      Earth Planets and Space 56 (2004), 669-674.
Wang JF, Hall PB, Ge J et al.: Detection of the 2175 angstrom dust feature at 1.4 less than or
      similar to z less than or similar to 1.5 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
     Astrophys. J. 609 (2004), 589-596.
Meierhenrich UJ, Munoz Caro GM, Bredehöft JH et al.: Identification of diamino acids in the
      Murchison meteorite. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sciences USA 101 (2004), 9182-9186.
Borchers AT, Davies PA, Gershwin ME: The asymmetry of existence: Do we owe our existence to
      cold dark matter and the weak force? Exp. Biol. Med. 229 (2004), 21-32.
Basiuk VA, Kobayashi Y: DFT study of HCN and NC-CN reactions with hydrogen species.
      Int. J. Quantum Chem. 99 (2004), 92-101.
Kobayashi K, Takano Y, Masuda H et al: Possible cometary organic compounds as sources of
      cometary biospheres. Adv. Space Res. 33 (2004), 1277-1281.
Mita H, Shirakura N, Yokoyama H et al: Kinetic study of abiotic amino acid formation by
      UV-irradiation. Adv. Space Res. 33 (2004), 1282-1288.
Young VR: Introduction to the third amino acid assesment workshop. J. Nutrition 134 (2004),
      1555-1557.
Gudipati MS: Matrix-isolation in cryogenic water-ices: Facile generation, storage and optical
      spectroscopy of aromatic radical cations. J. Phys. Chem A 108 (2004), 4412-4419.
Takano Y, Tsuboi T, Kaneko T et al.: Pyrolysis of high-molecular-weight complex organics
      synthesized from a simulated interstellar gas mixture irradiated with 3 MeV proton beam.
      Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan. 77 (2004), 779-783.
Gibb EL, Whittet DCB, Boogert ACA et al.: Interstellar ice: The infrared space observatory legacy.
     Astrophys. J. S 151 (2003), 35-73.
Guillot B, Guissani J: Investigation of vapor-deposited amorphous ice and irradiated ice by
     molecular dynamics simulation. J. Chem. Phys. 120 (2004), 4366-4382.
Takano Y, Ohashi A, Kaneko T. et al.: Abiotic synthesis of high molecular weight organics from
     an inorganic gas mixture of carbon monoxide, ammonia, and water by 3 MeV proton irradiation.
     Appl. Phys. Lett. 84 (2004), 1410-1412.
Mendoza C, Ruette F, Martorell G. et al.: Quantum-chemical modeling of interstellar grain
     prebiotic chemistry: Catalytic synthesis of glycine and alanine on the surface of a polycyclic
     aromatic hydrocarbon flake. Astrophys. J. 601 (2004), 59-62.
Park JY, Woon DE: Computational confirmation of the carrier for the "XCN" interstellar ice band :
     OCN- charge transfer complexes. Astrophys. J. 601 (2004), 63-66.
Meierhenrich UJ et al.: Amino acid analysis intended on the Martian surface.  In: Pérez-Mercader
     (ed.) Exo-Astrobiologie. ESA SP-545, ISBN: 92-9092-856-6, Noordwijk, the Netherlands (2004), p.
     239-240.
Bredehöft JH, Thiemann W, Meierhenrich UJ: Separation and characterization of N-heterocyclic
     compounds from an interstellar mineral matrix. In: Pérez-Mercader (ed.) Exo-Astrobiologie. ESA
     SP-545, ISBN: 92-9092-856-6, Noordwijk, the Netherlands (2004), p. 175-176.
Meierhenrich UJ, Thiemann WHP: Photochemical concepts on the origin of biomolecular
      asymmetry. Orig. Life Evol. Biosphere 34 (2004), 111-121.
Dorn ED, McDonald GD, Storrie-Lombardi MC, Nealson KH: Principal component analysis and
      neural networks for detection of amino acid biosignatures. Icarus 166 (2003), 403-409.
Munoz Caro GM, Meierhenrich UJ, Schutte WA, Thiemann WHP, Greenberg JM: UV-photo-
     processing of interstellar ice analogs: Detection of HMT-based species. Astron. Astrophys. 413
      (2004), 209-216.
Muller AWJ: Finding extraterrestrial organisms living on thermosynthesis. Astrobiology 3 (2003),
      555-564.
Munoz Caro GM, Schutte WA: UV-photoprocessing of interstellar ice analogs: New infrared
      spectroscopic results. Astron. Astrophys. 412 (2003), 121-132.
Gudipate MS, Allamandola LJ: Facile generation and storage of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
      ions in astrophysical ices.  Astrophys. J. 596 (2003), L195-L198
Klanova J, Klan P, Heger D. et al.: Comparison of the effects of UV, H2O2/UV and
      gamma-irradiation processes on frozen ... Photoch. Photobio. Sci. 2 (2003), 1023-1031.
Kletetschka G, Kohout T, Wasilewski PJ: Magnetic remanence in the Murchison meteorite.
      Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 38 (2003), 399-405 .
de Duve C: A research proposal on the origin of life - Closing lecture given at the ISSOL congress
      in Oaxaca, Mexico, on July 4, 2002.  Orig. Life Evol. Biosphere 33 (2003), 559-574.
Zamith S, Blanchet V, Girard G, et al.: The predissociation of highly excited states in acetylene by
      time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. J. Chem. Phys. 119 (2003), 3763-3773 .
Takano Y, Ushio K, Kaneko T., et al.: Amino acid precursors from carbon monoxide in simulated
      interstellar dust ice mantle by UV irradiation at 10 K. Chem. Lett. 32 (2003), 612-613 .
Lilach Y, Asscher M.: Photochemistry of caged molecules: CD3Cl@lce. J. Chem. Phys. 119
      (2003), 407-412.
Pontoppidan KM, Dartois E, van Dishoeck EF, et al.: Detection of abundant solid methanol
      toward young low mass stars. Astron. Astrophys. 404 (2003), L17-L20.
Klan P, Klanova J, Holoubek I, et al.: Photochemical activity of organic compounds in ice induced
      by sunlight irradiation: The Svalbard project. Geophys. Res. Lett. 30 (2003), 1313.
Hollis JM, Pedelty JA, Snyder LE, et al.: A sensitive very large array search for small-scale glycine
      emission toward OMC-1. Astrophys. J. 588 (2003), 353-359.
Deamer D, Dworkin JP, Sandford SA, et al.: The first cell membranes. Astrobiology 2 (2003),
      371-381.
Meierhenrich UJ, Munoz Caro GM, Schutte WA, Barbier B, Arcones Segovia A, Rosenbauer H,
      Thiemann WHP, Brack A: Production of chiral amino acids under simulated interstellar
      conditions. Orig. Life Evol. Biosphere 33 (2003), 257-258.
Wurthner F, Herges R, Brase S, et al.: Organic chemistry 2002.
      Nachr. Chem. 51 (2003), 286-315.
Klanova J, Klan P, Nosek J, et al.: Environmental ice photochemistry: monochlorophenols.
      Environ. Sci. Technol. 37 (2003), 1568-1574.
Focsa C, Chazallon B, Destombes JL: Resonant desorption of ice with a tunable LiNbO3 optical
      parametric oscillator. Surf. Sci. 528 (2003), 189-195.
Meierhenrich UJ: Comets and earthly life.
      Nachr. Chem. 50 (2002), 1338-1341.
Blagojevic V, Petrie S, Bohme DK: Gas-phase synthesis for interstellar carboxylic and amino acids.
      Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 339 (2003), L7-L11.
Taban IM, Schutte WA, Pontoppidan KM, et al.: Stringent upper limits to the solid NH3
     abundance towards W 33A froom near-IR spectroscopy with the Very Large Telescope. Astron.
     Astrophys. 339 (2003), 169-175.
Gudipati MS, Dworkin JP, Chillier XDF, et al.: Luminescence from vacuum-ultraviolett irradiated
      cosmic ice analogs and residues. Astrophys. J. 583 (2003), 514-523.
Devienne FM, Barnabe C, Ourisson G: Synthesis of further biological compounds in interstellar-like
      conditions. Cr. Chim. 5 (2002), 651-653.
Stone BM, Mello AJ: Life, the universe and microfluidics.
      Lab. Chip. 2 (2002), 58N-64N.
Takano Y, Masuda H, Kaneko T et al.: Formation of amino acids from possible interstellar media         by gamma-rays and UV-irradiation. Chem. Lett. 10 (2002), 986-987.
Meierhenrich UJ, Munoz Caro GM, Schutte WA: The prebiotic synthesis of amino acids -
      interstellar vs. atmospheric mechanisms. In: Lacoste H (ed.) Exo-Astrobiologie. ESA SP-518,
      ISBN: 92-9092-828-X, Noordwijk, the Netherlands (2002), p. 25-30.
Meierhenrich UJ, Thiemann WHP, Goesmann F, et al.: Enantioselective amino acid analysis in
      cometary matter planned for the Cosac instrument onboard Rosetta lander. In: Lacoste H (ed.)
      Exo-Astrobiologie. ESA SP-518, ISBN: 92-9092-828-X, the Netherlands (2002), p. 477-478.
Szopa C, Meierhenrich UJ, Coscia D, et al.: Gas chromatography for in situ analysis of a cometary
     nucleus - IV. Study of capillary column robustness for space application. J. Chromatogr. A 982
     (2002), 303-312.
Wilson JN, Idriss H: Structure sensitivity and photocatalytic reactions of semiconductors. Effect of
    the last layer atomic arrangement. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 124 (2002), 11284-11285.
Griesbeck AG, Meierhenrich UJ: Minireview: Asymmetric Photochemistry and Photochirogenesis.
     Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 41 (2002), 3147-3154 ; Kurzaufsatz: Asymmetrische Photochemie und
     Photochirogenese. Angew. Chem. 114 (2002), 3279-3286.
Meierhenrich UJ, Munoz Caro GM, Schutte WA et al.: Amino acids from ultraviolet irradiation of
    interstellar ice analogues. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 66 (2002), 505.
Sandford SA, Bernstein MP, Dworkin JP et al.: The production of amino acids in interstellar ices -
     Implications for meteoritic organics. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 37 (2002), 125
Woon DE: Pathways to glycine and other amino acids in ultraviolet-irradiated astrophysical ices 
     determined via quantum chemical modeling. Astrophys. J. 571 (2002), L177-L180
Shock EL: Seeds of Life? Nature 416 (2002), 380-381