Titan's Primordial Soup: Formation of Amino Acids via Low-Temperature Hydrolysis of Tholins

Abstract

Titan organic haze analogues, or "tholins," produce biomolecules when hydrolyzed at low temperature over long timescales. By using a combination of high-resolution mass spectroscopy and tandem mass spectrometry fragmentation techniques, four amino acids were identified in a tholin sample that had been hydrolyzed in a 13 wt % ammonia-water solution at 253 + or - 1 K and 293 + or - 1 K for 1 year. These four species have been assigned as the amino acids asparagine, aspartic acid, glutamine, and glutamic acid. This represents the first detection of biologically relevant molecules created under conditions thought to be similar to those found in impact melt pools and cryolavas on Titan, which are at a stage of chemical evolution not unlike the "primordial soup" of the early Earth. Future missions to Titan should therefore carry instrumentation capable of, but certainly not limited to, detecting amino acids and other prebiotic molecules on Titan's surface.