From interstellar chemistry to prebiotic chemistry: organic matter evolution toward the life

WOS:000305043300007International audienceFrom interstellar chemistry to prebiotic chemistry: organic matter evolution toward the life The formation and evolution of organic matter starts mostly in dense molecular clouds. These clouds are mainly composed of interstellar grains, including most of the organic matter of 1:he interstellar medium embedded in molecular ices. During the evolution of these grains, this organic matter will undergo many chemical changes (ion bombardment, UV irradiations, and thermal effects) to achieve a true complexity of the organic matrix. In some areas, the cloud will collapse gravitationally on itself to form a "solar nebula" that will evolve into a protostar and potentially to a planetary system like our own. During this evolution, the interstellar grains will agglomerate to form small objects including the original organic matter, which from their evolution around the star can be described as comets or asteroids. These small objects can serve as a reservoir of organic matter for the development of prebiotic chemistry on the surface of terrestrial planets like the Earth, a prelude to the emergence of biosystems as it has indeed been the case on the Earth

From interstellar chemistry to prebiotic chemistry: organic matter evolution toward the life

WOS:000305043300007International audienceFrom interstellar chemistry to prebiotic chemistry: organic matter evolution toward the life The formation and evolution of organic matter starts mostly in dense molecular clouds. These clouds are mainly composed of interstellar grains, including most of the organic matter of 1:he interstellar medium embedded in molecular ices. During the evolution of these grains, this organic matter will undergo many chemical changes (ion bombardment, UV irradiations, and thermal effects) to achieve a true complexity of the organic matrix. In some areas, the cloud will collapse gravitationally on itself to form a "solar nebula" that will evolve into a protostar and potentially to a planetary system like our own. During this evolution, the interstellar grains will agglomerate to form small objects including the original organic matter, which from their evolution around the star can be described as comets or asteroids. These small objects can serve as a reservoir of organic matter for the development of prebiotic chemistry on the surface of terrestrial planets like the Earth, a prelude to the emergence of biosystems as it has indeed been the case on the Earth

On the conditions for mimicking natural selection in chemical systems

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Data-Driven UPLC-Orbitrap MS Analysis in Astrochemistry

International audienceMeteorites have been found to be rich and highly diverse in organic compounds. Next to previous direct infusion high resolution mass spectrometry experiments (DI-HR-MS), we present here data-driven strategies to evaluate UPLC-Orbitrap MS analyses. This allows a comprehensive mining of structural isomers extending the level of information on the molecular diversity in astrochemical materials. As a proof-of-concept study, Murchison and Allende meteorites were analyzed. Both, global organic fingerprint and specific isomer analyses are discussed. Up to 31 different isomers per molecular composition are present in Murchison suggesting the presence of ≈ 440,000 different compounds detected therein. By means of this time-resolving high resolution mass spectrometric method, we go one step further toward the characterization of chemical structures within complex extraterrestrial mixtures, enabling a better understanding of organic chemical evolution, from interstellar ices toward small bodies in the Solar System

Data-Driven UPLC-Orbitrap MS Analysis in Astrochemistry

Meteorites have been found to be rich and highly diverse in organic compounds. Next to previous direct infusion high resolution mass spectrometry experiments (DI-HR-MS), we present here data-driven strategies to evaluate UPLC-Orbitrap MS analyses. This allows a comprehensive mining of structural isomers extending the level of information on the molecular diversity in astrochemical materials. As a proof-of-concept study, Murchison and Allende meteorites were analyzed. Both, global organic fingerprint and specific isomer analyses are discussed. Up to 31 different isomers per molecular composition are present in Murchison suggesting the presence of ≈440,000 different compounds detected therein. By means of this time-resolving high resolution mass spectrometric method, we go one step further toward the characterization of chemical structures within complex extraterrestrial mixtures, enabling a better understanding of organic chemical evolution, from interstellar ices toward small bodies in the Solar System

Data-Driven UPLC-Orbitrap MS Analysis in Astrochemistry

International audienceMeteorites have been found to be rich and highly diverse in organic compounds. Next to previous direct infusion high resolution mass spectrometry experiments (DI-HR-MS), we present here data-driven strategies to evaluate UPLC-Orbitrap MS analyses. This allows a comprehensive mining of structural isomers extending the level of information on the molecular diversity in astrochemical materials. As a proof-of-concept study, Murchison and Allende meteorites were analyzed. Both, global organic fingerprint and specific isomer analyses are discussed. Up to 31 different isomers per molecular composition are present in Murchison suggesting the presence of ≈ 440,000 different compounds detected therein. By means of this time-resolving high resolution mass spectrometric method, we go one step further toward the characterization of chemical structures within complex extraterrestrial mixtures, enabling a better understanding of organic chemical evolution, from interstellar ices toward small bodies in the Solar System

Data-Driven UPLC-Orbitrap MS Analysis in Astrochemistry

International audienceMeteorites have been found to be rich and highly diverse in organic compounds. Next to previous direct infusion high resolution mass spectrometry experiments (DI-HR-MS), we present here data-driven strategies to evaluate UPLC-Orbitrap MS analyses. This allows a comprehensive mining of structural isomers extending the level of information on the molecular diversity in astrochemical materials. As a proof-of-concept study, Murchison and Allende meteorites were analyzed. Both, global organic fingerprint and specific isomer analyses are discussed. Up to 31 different isomers per molecular composition are present in Murchison suggesting the presence of ≈ 440,000 different compounds detected therein. By means of this time-resolving high resolution mass spectrometric method, we go one step further toward the characterization of chemical structures within complex extraterrestrial mixtures, enabling a better understanding of organic chemical evolution, from interstellar ices toward small bodies in the Solar System

Rosetta et ExoMars sur les traces des origines moléculaires de la vie

National audienceLa plus récente mission spatiale cométaire, Rosetta, était équipée d'instruments capables de caractériser les molécules organiques de la comète 67P/Tchourioumov-Guérassimenko avec une précision sans précédent. Les spectromètres de masse ont révélé une grande diversité de molécules organiques et indiquent que 67P contient à la fois des entités moléculaires primitives, probablement issues du nuage moléculaire parent du Soleil, et d'autres, transformées dans l'environnement du disque protoplanétaire lors de sa formation. La présence de glycine et d'autres molécules organiques à intérêt « prébiotique » renforce l'idée selon laquelle comètes et astéroïdes auraient pu apporter les briques moléculaires de la vie sur Terre. La mission ExoMars, quant à elle, va analyser la surface martienne pour chercher de potentielles traces de vie passée (ou présente) sur la planète rouge, à travers les rapports énantiomériques des principales molécules prébiotiques chirales, essentiellement des acides aminés et/ou des sucres. Cet article donne une vue d'ensemble de la chimie interstellaire, des grands nuages sombres aux petits corps de notre système solaire qui sont les témoins directs de la chimie de ces origines. Le but est de retracer les possibles origines moléculaires de la vie sur Terre, dans un cadre défini par l'astrochimie et l'astrophysique. Un paragraphe est consacré au déroulement de la mission Rosetta, ses résultats les plus importants et leurs implications pour l'apport extraterrestre de molécules organiques sur la Terre primitive. Enfin, un intérêt particulier est porté au chromatographe en phase gazeuse de l'instrument MOMA à bord de l'astromobile Rosalind Franklin du programme ExoMars, qui devrait arriver à destination début 2023. Mots-clés: Rosetta, ExoMars, nuage moléculaire, comète, chiralité, origine de la vie

Prebiotic significance of extraterrestrial ice photochemistry: detection of hydantoin in organic residues.

International audienceThe delivery of extraterrestrial organic materials to primitive Earth from meteorites or micrometeorites has long been postulated to be one of the origins of the prebiotic molecules involved in the subsequent apparition of life. Here, we report on experiments in which vacuum UV photo-irradiation of interstellar/circumstellar ice analogues containing H(2)O, CH(3)OH, and NH(3) led to the production of several molecules of prebiotic interest. These were recovered at room temperature in the semi-refractory, water-soluble residues after evaporation of the ice. In particular, we detected small quantities of hydantoin (2,4-imidazolidinedione), a species suspected to play an important role in the formation of poly- and oligopeptides. In addition, hydantoin is known to form under extraterrestrial, abiotic conditions, since it has been detected, along with various other derivatives, in the soluble part of organic matter of primitive carbonaceous meteorites. This result, together with other related experiments reported recently, points to the potential importance of the photochemistry of interstellar "dirty" ices in the formation of organics in Solar System materials. Such molecules could then have been delivered to the surface of primitive Earth, as well as other telluric (exo-) planets, to help trigger first prebiotic reactions with the capacity to lead to some form of primitive biomolecular activity

L'asymétrie de la vie: une origine extraterrestre?

National audienceHow did life begin? How did the single handedness of the molecular building blocks of the complex trinity – DNA, RNA, and proteins come about? Among all the theories regarding the origin of biomolecular asymmetry, those focusing on asymmetric photochemical processes using circularly polarized light (CPL) in interstellar environments appear to be the most promising. Here, insights from recent analyses of meteorites and interstellar ice analogs will be discussed along with the influence of CPL on the organic precursor molecules of life.Comment la vie est-t-elle apparue sur Terre ? Pourquoi les molécules du vivant sont-elles asymétriques ? Dans cet article sont résumées les récentes analyses des échantillons de météorites et d'analogues de matière organique issus de glaces interstellaires simulées en laboratoire, une matière supposée être, au moins en partie, la matière organique originelle de notre système solaire. L'origine de l'asymétrie biochimique est discutée à travers l'influence de la lumière circulairement polarisée (LCP), observée dans de nombreuses régions de formation d'étoiles. Un intérêt particulier est porté aux récentes avancées des travaux de notre groupement de recherche, basés essentiellement sur une approche expérimentale de simulation de ces glaces en laboratoire. Mots-clés Chiralité, acides aminés, sucres, comète, météorite, origine de la vie