Abstract
C1 and C2 carbonaceous chondrites contain several percent of organic matter, mainly as a bridged aromatic polymer containing COOH, OH, and CO groups, as well as heterocyclic rings containing N, O, and S. The remaining 5–30% includes the following compound classes, either present initially or generated by solvolysis: alkanes (mainly normal), alkenes, arenes, alicyclics, alcohols, aliphatic carboxylic acids, purines, pyrimidines, and other basic N-compounds, amino acids, porphyrin-like pigments, carbynes, etc.On the basis of laboratory experiments, it appears that these compounds formed in the solar nebula, by catalytic (Fischer-Tropsch) reactions of CO, H2, and NH3 at 360–400 K, ∼ 10−5 atm. The onset of these reactions was triggered by the formation of suitable catalysts (magnetite, hydrated silicates) at these temperatures. Such reactions may be a source of prebiotic carbon compounds on the inner planets, and interstellar molecules.
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