Moons of Neptune

This is not the case for dinitrogen as a biosolvent. Dinitrogen is abundant in the cosmos, like water. Its lower freezing and boiling points, however, make it a liquid over a wider range of the cosmos. For example, liquid dinitrogen may be a bulk solvent on Triton, the largest moon of Neptune. 

All these studies provide evidence for a rich radiation chemistry. For example, in N2-dominated ice (modeling the surfaces of Pluto and Triton, a moon of Neptune), the authors have proven by infrared spectroscopy the formation of HCN as well as HNC starting from N2/CH and N2/CH /CO mixtures. Other species such as HNCO, NH3, NH4, OCN , CN and N3 were also detected. As many of these species are involved in reactions producing biomolecules (amino acids, polypeptides), these results suggest the possibility of an interesting prebiotic chemistry on Triton and Pluto. 

Fig. 4.23 Triton, the largest moon of Neptune is slightly smaller than our Moon. Credit NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute...

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