Rate measurements of the hydrolysis of complex organic macromolecules in cold aqueous solutions: implications for prebiotic chemistry on the early Earth and Titan |
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Authors: | Neish C D Somogyi A Imanaka H Lunine J I Smith M A |
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Institution: | Department of Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721-0092, USA. cdneish@lpl.arizona.edu |
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Abstract: | Organic macromolecules ("complex tholins") were synthesized from a 0.95 N(2)/0.05 CH(4) atmosphere in a high-voltage AC flow discharge reactor. When placed in liquid water, specific water soluble compounds in the macromolecules demonstrated Arrhenius type first order kinetics between 273 and 313 K and produced oxygenated organic species with activation energies in the range of approximately 60+/-10 kJ mol(-1). These reactions displayed half lives between 0.3 and 17 days at 273 K. Oxygen incorporation into such materials--a necessary step toward the formation of biological molecules--is therefore fast compared to processes that occur on geologic timescales, which include the freezing of impact melt pools and possible cryovolcanic sites on Saturn's organic-rich moon Titan. |
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