Abstract
Prebiotic possibilities for the synthesis of interstellar ribose through a protic variant of the formose reaction under gas-phase conditions were studied in the absence of any known catalyst. The ion-molecule reaction products, diose and triose, were sought by mass spectrometry, and relevant masses were observed. Ab initio calculations were used to evaluate protic formose mechanism possibilities. A bilateral theoretical and experimental effort yielded a physical model for glycoaldehyde generation whereby a hydronium cation can mediate formaldehyde dimerization followed by covalent bond formation leading to those and water. These results advance the possibility that ion-molecule reactions between formaldehyde (CH2O) and H3O+ lead to formose reaction products and inform us about potential sugar formation processes in interstellar space.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 433-442 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Astrobiology |
Volume | 7 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2007 |
Keywords
- Astrobiology
- Interstellar medium, clouds
- Interstellar medium, molecules
- Laboratory methods
- Molecular processes
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)
- Space and Planetary Science