High-Energy Chemistry of Formamide: A Simpler Way for Nucleobase Formation
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Journal of Physical Chemistry A |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | http://pubs.acs.org/doi/ipdf/10.1021/jp411415p |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp411415p |
| Field | Physical chemistry and theoretical chemistry |
| Keywords | HIGH-POWER LASER; TRANSFORM EMISSION-SPECTROSCOPY; INDUCED DIELECTRIC-BREAKDOWN; EARTHS EARLY ATMOSPHERE; EVALUATED KINETIC-DATA; THERMAL-DECOMPOSITION; PREBIOTIC SYNTHESIS; INFORMATIONAL POLYMERS; PROPELLANT COMBUSTION; CHEMICAL EVOLUTION |
| Description | The formation of nucleobases from formamide during a high-energy density event, i.e., the impact of an extraterrestrial body into the planetary atmosphere, was studied by irradiation of formamide ice and liquid samples with a high-power laser in the presence of potential catalysts. FTIR spectroscopy, time-resolved emission spectroscopy, and GC-MS were subsequently used to monitor the dissociation of this molecule into stable molecular fragments (HCN, H2O, HNCO, H-2, CO, and NH3) and unstable species (HNC, center dot CN, and center dot NH). The kinetic and thermodynamic models of the high-energy density event molecular dynamics have been suggested together with the reaction routes leading from the dissociation products to the nucleobases. In addition, using theoretical calculations, we propose a simple new reaction pathway for the formation of both pyrimidine and purine nucleobases involving center dot CN radical chemistry |
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