Carbonaceous chondrites, organic

Watson, IS., Pearson, V.K., Gilmour, L, Sephton, M.A. (2003) Contamination by sesquiterpenoid derivatives in the Orgueil carbonaceous chondrite. Organic Geochemistry, 34, 37-47. 

Mullie, F. and Reisse, J. Organic Matter in Carbonaceous Chondrites, 139, 83-117 (1986). Murakami, Y. Functionalited Cyclophanes as Catalysts and Enzyme Models. 115, 103-151 (1983). Mutter, M., and Pillai, V. N. R. New Perspectives in Polymer-Supported Peptide Synthesis. 106, 119-175 (1982). 

The authors chose pyruvic acid as their model compound this C3 molecule plays a central role in the metabolism of living cells. It was recently synthesized for the first time under hydrothermal conditions (Cody et al., 2000). Hazen and Deamer carried out their experiments at pressures and temperatures similar to those in hydrothermal systems (but not chosen to simulate such systems). The non-enzymatic reactions, which took place in relatively concentrated aqueous solutions, were intended to identify the subsequent self-selection and self-organisation potential of prebiotic molecular species. A considerable series of complex organic molecules was tentatively identified, such as methoxy- or methyl-substituted methyl benzoates or 2, 3, 4-trimethyl-2-cyclopenten-l-one, to name only a few. In particular, polymerisation products of pyruvic acid, and products of consecutive reactions such as decarboxylation and cycloaddition, were observed the expected tar fraction was not found, but water-soluble components were found as well as a chloroform-soluble fraction. The latter showed similarities to chloroform-soluble compounds from the Murchison carbonaceous chondrite (Hazen and Deamer, 2007). 

Hydroxypyrimidines have been detected in the Murchison, Murray, and Orgueil carbonaceous chondrites in abundances similar to those of amino acids [7]. Earlier analyses of the Orgueil meteorite By thin layer chromatography of organic extracts indicated the presence of melamine, ammeline, adenine, and guanine [8]. Although these could not be confirmed by Folsome, et al., [7] using GC/MS, recent studies by Schwartz [11] and by Hayatsu, et al., [12] have shown that these constituents of the nucleic acids may indeed exist in the carbonaceous chondrites. 

Kerridge JF (1983) Isotopic composition of carbonaceous-chondrite kerogen evidence for an interstellar origin of organic matter in meteorites. Earth Planet Sci Lett 64 186-200 Kerridge JF, Haymon RM, Kastner M (1983) Sulfur isotope systematics at the 21°N site. East Pacific Rise. Earth Planet Sci Lett 66 91-100... 

Deamer, D. W. (1985). Boundary structures are formed by organic components of the Murchison carbonaceous chondrite. Nature, 317, 792. ... 

Table 10.1 Major groups of soluble organic compounds identified in carbonaceous chondritic meteorites...

Structures of some organic compounds found in carbonaceous chondrites. 

Piazzarello, S., Cooper, G. W. and Flynn, G. J. (2006) The nature and distribution of the organic material in carbonaceous chondrites and interplanetary dust particles. In Meteorites and the Early Solar System II, eds. Lauretta, D. S. and McSween, H. Y., Jr. Tucson University of Arizona Press, pp. 625-651. A comprehensive, up-to-date review of organic matter in carbonaceous chondrites, but not for the faint-hearted. 

Cody, G. and Alexander, . M. O. D. (2005) NMR studies of chemical structural variation of insoluble organic matter from different carbonaceous chondrite groups. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 69, 1085—1097. 

Gilmour, I. (2004) Structural and isotopic analysis of organic matter in carbonaceous chondrites. In Treatise on Geochemistry, Vol. 1. Meteorites, Comets, and Planets, ed. Davis, A. M. Oxford Elsevier, pp. 269-290. 

Studier MH, Hayatsu R, Anders E (1965) Organic Compounds in Carbonaceous Chondrites. Science 149 1455... 

Organic Matter in Carbonaceous Chondrites with Special Emphasis on the... 

In this review article we would like to show why the study of the organic matter in carbonaceous chondrites (a class of meteorites) is so interesting. To this end it is necessary to provide information on the nature, origin and age of these extraterrestrial objects. 

Carbonaceous chondrites are members of a class of stony meteorites called chondrites. As is clearly indicated by their name, carbonaceous chondrites contain carbon. This carbon itself is present as elemental carbon and also as components of organic molecules. 

The presence of organic molecules in samples of extraterrestrial matter has been known for more than a century. Some of the greatest chemists of the nineteenth century were involved in the analysis of samples of meteoritic material. They were able to show that carbonaceous chondrites (as they are now named) contain organic molecules. The first to detect carbon in a meteoritic sample was Thenard, in 1806, by analysis of a sample of the Alais meteorite. This result was confirmed in 1834 by Berzelius, who was also the first to detect the presence of water of crystallisation. Working on a sample of the Kaba meteorite, Wohler (1858) confirmed the presence of organic matter, and in a paper dated 1859 said, I am still convinced that besides free carbon this meteorite contains a low-melting point, carbon containing substance which seems to be similar to certain fossil hydrocarbon-like substances... . 

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