Abstract
Solid protein-like products have been produced from “cold” plasmas of the inorganic gases CO, N 2, and H 2 reacting under specific discharge conditions. The excitation of gases under electrodeless radiofrequency (13.56 MHz) conditions produced polymers whose chemical composition was tailorable as a function of gas flow rates. The polymers on hydrolysis showed the presence of alanine, glutamic acid, glycine, serine, and tyrosine as the most common hydrolysate amino acids. Many other compounds of unknown structure are shown to be separable by two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography. These compounds can be quite complex, and may be polymeric, or heterocyclic in nature. Presence of aromatic systems has been unequivocally established for sym. trimethylpyridine and strongly indicated for tyrosine. Possible reaction mechanisms leading to the synthesis of the glycyl unit are proposed, and the role of surfaces or other nucleation sites for condensation of products is discussed. A suggestion is presented whereby reactions between CO, N 2, and H 2 induced in primordial times by ultraviolet energy could have led to condensation of organic products on upper atmospheric dust particles.
Published Version
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