The radiolysis of aqueous ammonium cyanide: polymers of interest to chemical evolution studies.
Some of the polymers isolated from the mixture of products obtained upon irradiation of dilute oxygen-free solutions of NH4CN with gamma rays from a 60Co source were examined. Their molecular weights were estimated to be in the range 4000-20000 daltons; elements of their structure were inferred from chemical and spectroscopic studies; and their interactions with nucleic acid components were examined. Significance of these results for chemical evolution studies is summarized.
D005075:Biological Evolution; D003037:Cobalt Radioisotopes; D003486:Cyanides / Q000528:radiation effects*; D005720:Gamma Rays; D000069497:Origin of Life
D003037:Cobalt Radioisotopes; D003486:Cyanides; C026524:ammonium cyanide