Gas-phase syntheses for interstellar carboxylic and amino acids

Abstract

We report experimental results that demonstrate gas-phase, ionic syntheses of glycine and β-alanine, as well as acetic and propanoic acid, from smaller molecules found in space; in doing so, we infer the formation of these acids in the interstellar environment. We show that ionized glycine and β-alanine are produced in the reactions of hydroxylamine ions, NH2OH+, with acetic and propanoic acid respectively. Even more promising in the context of interstellar synthesis are our results that demonstrate the corresponding production of the protonated amino acids from analogous reactions with protonated hydroxylamine. The striking specificity of these syntheses for the β-isomer of alanine suggests that the amino acids of CI (Carbonaceous Ivona) chondrite meteorites are products of interstellar chemistry and supports the hypothesis that these meteorites are of cometary origin.