Thermal Synthesis of Carbamic Acid and Its Dimer in Interstellar Ices: A Reservoir of Interstellar Amino Acids.

ABSTRACT: Reactions in interstellar ices are shown to be capable of producing key prebiotic molecules without energetic radiation that are necessary for the origins of life. When present in interstellar ices, carbamic acid (H₂NCOOH) can serve as a condensed-phase source of the molecular building blocks for more complex proteinogenic amino acids. Here, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy during heating of analogue interstellar ices composed of carbon dioxide and ammonia identifies the lower limit for thermal synthesis to be 62 ± 3 K for carbamic acid and 39 ± 4 K for its salt ammonium carbamate ([H₂NCOO^-][NH₄⁺]). While solvation increases the rates of formation and decomposition of carbamic acid in ice, the absence of solvent effects after su

SUBMITTER: Marks JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10755733 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature