title: First Evidence on the Role of Heavy Ion Irradiation of Meteorites and Formamide in the Origin of Biomolecules.
abstract: Formamide (NH2CHO) has been irradiated in condensed phase at 273 K by11B-boron beams in the presence of powdered meteorites of the chondrite and stony-iron types. Relative to the controls (no radiation or no catalysis), a variegate panel of compounds was observed, including purine and pyrimidine nucleobases (uracil, cytosine, adenine, and guanine), nucleobase analogues, heterocycles, and carboxylic acids involved in metabolic pathways. The presence of amino imidazole carbonitrile (AICN), 4,6-diamino purine (4,6-DAP) and 2,4-diamino pyrimidine (2,4-DAPy) among the observed products suggests the occurrence of an unified mechanism based on the generation of radical cyanide species (•CN). These observations contribute to outline plausible prebiotic scenarios involving11B-boron as energy source.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Ecologiche e Biologiche, Università della Tuscia Via San Camillo De Lellis, 01100, Viterbo, Italy. saladino@unitus.it.
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saladino
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Ecologiche e Biologiche, Università della Tuscia Via San Camillo De Lellis, 01100, Viterbo, Italy.
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Carota
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Ecologiche e Biologiche, Università della Tuscia Via San Camillo De Lellis, 01100, Viterbo, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Botta
authors.affiliation: Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, JINR's Laboratory of Radiation Biology, 141980, Dubna, Russia.
authors.forename: Michail
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kapralov
authors.affiliation: Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, JINR's Laboratory of Radiation Biology, 141980, Dubna, Russia.
authors.forename: Gennady N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Timoshenko
authors.affiliation: Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, JINR's Laboratory of Radiation Biology, 141980, Dubna, Russia.
authors.forename: Alexei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rozanov
authors.affiliation: Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, JINR's Laboratory of Radiation Biology, 141980, Dubna, Russia.
authors.forename: Eugene
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Krasavin
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie "Charles Darwin", University Sapienza, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy. ernesto.dimauro@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Ernesto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Di Mauro
mesh_terms: D001895:Boron; D002384:Catalysis; D019418:Evolution, Chemical; D005559:Formamides / Q000528:radiation effects*; D020450:Heavy Ions; D019110:Meteoroids; D000069497:Origin of Life
chemical_list: D005559:Formamides; C031066:formamide; D001895:Boron
keywords: Formamide; High energy particles; Irradiation; Nucleobases; Prebiotic synthesis