The Role Played by Solid State Surfaces in Prebiotic Chemistry

Abstract

A realistically simulated environment that could be the resemblance of the primitive Earth, would require the consideration of multiphase systems. Therefore, it is relevant to simulate the prebiotic Earth to consider the contribution of solid phases, since the enhance of chemical reactions by solid surfaces were by all means important. The solid state has also been considered as one of the most important prebiotic concentrators of organic molecules. This last property, in addition of its very well known reactivity that characterized the surfaces of some solids, made the solid state a potential catalyzer of very important reactions during the prebiotic Earth. In other words, after the solids adsorb organic molecules, they would then catalyze the synthesis of small molecules and oligomers into biomolecules. Also, to carry out these reactions an input of energy was necessary. One source that is proposed to be relevant in this scenery is ionizing radiation. Thus, to understand the relation of solids with organics in presence of energy, let us first see the interaction of radiation with the solid without any organic adsorbed, and then with an adsorbed molecule.