Chemical Evolution and Meteorites: An Update

Carbonaceous chondrites are a primitive group of meteorites, which contain abundant organic material and provide a unique natural record of prebiotic chemical evolution. This material comprises a varied suite of soluble organic compounds that are similar, sometimes identical, to those found in the biosphere, such as amino acids, carboxylic acids, and sugar derivatives. Some amino acids of this suite also show L-enantiomeric excesses, and suggest the possibility they may have contributed to terrestrial homochirality by direct input of meteoritic material to the early Earth. This optical activity appears to be limited to the subgroup of α-methyl amino acids which, although not common in the extant biosphere, would have been well suited to provide the early earth with both enantiomeric excesses and means for their amplification by subsequent chemical evolution. We can also envision this exogenous delivery of carbonaceous material by meteorites and comets as having coincided with the endogenous formation of prebiotic precursors and influenced their evolution by complementary reactions or catalysis.

[1]  J. Oro,et al.  On the reported optical activity of amino acids in the Murchison meteorite , 1983, Nature.

[2]  Stanley L. Miller,et al.  Production of Some Organic Compounds under Possible Primitive Earth Conditions1 , 1955 .

[3]  A. H. Delsemme,et al.  Cometary origin of carbon, nitrogen and water on the Earth , 1991, Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere.

[4]  E. Shock.  Hydrothermal organic synthesis experiments. , 1992, Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere : the journal of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life.

[5]  A. Burlingame,et al.  Organic matter in carbonaceous chondrites. , 1966, Science.

[6]  Giovanni B. Valsecchi,et al.  Source regions and timescales for the delivery of water to the Earth , 2000 .

[7]  R Shipp,et al.  Isotopic characterisation of kerogen-like material in the Murchison carbonaceous chondrite. , 1987, Geochimica et cosmochimica acta.

[8]  Carl Sagan,et al.  Endogenous production, exogenous delivery and impact-shock synthesis of organic molecules: an inventory for the origins of life , 1992, Nature.

[9]  Kevin Righter,et al.  Determining the composition of the Earth , 2002, Nature.

[10]  V. Ramanathan,et al.  Enhanced CO2 greenhouse to compensate for reduced solar luminosity on early Earth , 1979, Nature.

[11]  M. Mutter,et al.  Conformational studies on host-guest peptides containing chiral alpha-methyl-alpha-amino acids. Comparison of the helix-inducing potential of alpha-aminoisobutyric acid, (S)-2-ethylalanine and (S)-2-methylserine. , 2009, International journal of peptide and protein research.

[12]  E. Peltzer,et al.  α-Hydroxycarboxylic acids in the Murchison meteorite , 1978, Nature.

[13]  R. Winans,et al.  Phenolic Ethers in the Organic Polymer of the Murchison Meteorite , 1980, Science.

[14]  S. Pizzarello,et al.  Molecular and isotopic analyses of Tagish Lake alkyl dicarboxylic acids , 2002 .

[15]  Michael E. Zolensky,et al.  Nonracemic isovaline in the Murchison meteorite : Chiral distribution and mineral association , 2003 .

[16]  S. Pizzarello,et al.  Alanine enantiomers in the Murchison meteorite , 1998, Nature.

[17]  C. T. Pillinger,et al.  Aromatic moieties in meteoritic macromolecular materials: analyses by hydrous pyrolysis and δ13C of individual compounds , 2000 .

[18]  John F. Kerridge,et al.  Meteorites and the early solar system , 1988 .

[19]  E. Anders,et al.  Meteorites and the Early Solar System , 1971 .

[20]  W. Bonner,et al.  The origin and amplification of biomolecular chirality , 2005, Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere.

[21]  S. Pizzarello,et al.  Enantiomeric Excesses in Meteoritic Amino Acids , 1997, Science.

[22]  Alec Moradpour,et al.  Preparation of chiral compounds with high optical purity by irradiation with circularly polarized light, a model reaction for the prebiotic generation of optical activity , 1974 .

[23]  Sherwood Chang,et al.  Organic matter in meteorites: molecular and isotopic analyses of the Murchison meteorite. , 1993 .

[24]  J. Reisse,et al.  Organic matter in carbonaceous chondrites , 1987 .

[25]  C. Toniolo,et al.  (R)-isovaline homo-peptides adopt the left-handed 3(10)-helical structure. , 1995, Peptide research.

[26]  George D. Cody,et al.  Solid-state ( 1 H and 13 C) nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of insoluble organic residue in the Murchison meteorite: a self-consistent quantitative analysis , 2002 .

[27]  J. Reisse,et al.  Chirality and the Origin of Homochirality , 2005 .

[28]  S. Macko,et al.  Isotopic evidence for extraterrestrial non- racemic amino acids in the Murchison meteorite , 1997, Nature.

[29]  Ronald A. Nieman,et al.  The Organic Content of the Tagish Lake Meteorite , 2001, Science.

[30]  S. Derenne,et al.  Solid state CP/MAS 13 C NMR of the insoluble organic matter of the Orgueil and Murchison meteorites: quantitative study , 2000 .

[31]  W. Bonner,et al.  Supernovae and life , 1983, Nature.

[32]  K. Kvenvolden,et al.  Evidence for Extraterrestrial Amino-acids and Hydrocarbons in the Murchison Meteorite , 1970, Nature.

[33]  B. Simoneit.  Evidence for organic synthesis in high temperature aqueous media — Facts and prognosis , 1995, Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere.

[34]  M. Engel,et al.  Distribution and enantiomeric composition of amino acids in the Murchison meteorite , 1982, Nature.

[35]  S. Pizzarello,et al.  Molecular and chiral analyses of some protein amino acid derivatives in the Murchison and Murray meteorites , 2001 .

[36]  J L Bada,et al.  Racemization and the origin of optically active organic compounds in living organisms. , 1987, Bio Systems.

[37]  S. Pizzarello,et al.  13C NMR spectroscopy of the insoluble carbon of carbonaceous chondrites. , 1982, Geochimica et cosmochimica acta.

[38]  Dale P. Cruikshank,et al.  Organic matter in carbonaceous chondrites, planetary satellites, asteroids and comets , 1988 .

[39]  S. Pizzarello,et al.  Non-racemic amino acids in the Murray and Murchison meteorites. , 2000, Geochimica et cosmochimica acta.