High molecular diversity of extraterrestrial organic matter in Murchison meteorite revealed 40 years after its fall.
Numerous descriptions of organic molecules present in the Murchison meteorite have improved our understanding of the early interstellar chemistry that operated at or just before the birth of our solar system. However, all molecular analyses were so far targeted toward selected classes of compounds with a particular emphasis on biologically active components in the context of prebiotic chemistry. Here we demonstrate that a nontargeted ultrahigh-resolution molecular analysis of the solvent-accessible organic fraction of Murchison extracted under mild conditions allows one to extend its indigenous chemical diversity to tens of thousands of different molecular compositions and likely millions of diverse structures. This molecular complexity, which provides hints on heteroatoms chronological assembly, suggests that the extraterrestrial chemodiversity is high compared to terrestrial relevant biological- and biogeochemical-driven chemical space.
Helmholtz-Zentrum Muenchen-German Research Center for Environmental Health, Institute for Ecological Chemistry, Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1, D-85764 Oberschleissheim, Germany. schmitt-kopplin@helmholtz-muenchen.de
Philippe
P
Schmitt-Kopplin
Zelimir
Z
Gabelica
Régis D
RD
Gougeon
Agnes
A
Fekete
Basem
B
Kanawati
Mourad
M
Harir
Istvan
I
Gebefuegi
Gerhard
G
Eckel
Norbert
N
Hertkorn
D005591:Chemical Fractionation / Q000379:methods; D005118:Extraterrestrial Environment / Q000737:chemistry*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D019110:Meteoroids; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000032:analysis*; D055601:Organic Chemistry Phenomena; D013455:Sulfur / Q000737:chemistry
D009930:Organic Chemicals; D013455:Sulfur