Carbonaceous chondrites soluble organic compounds

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

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). 

The soluble fraction of the organic matter in carbonaceous chondrites can be accessed by extracting powdered meteorite samples with solvents of varying polarity. These extracts contain complex mixtures of discrete organic compounds that can then be purified further, for example by charcoal filtration, ion-exchange chromatography or sublimation, before analysis. 

Carbonaceous chondrites contain a significant amount of a suite of organic compounds, both soluble and insoluble, that have recorded in their molecular... 

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