Aqueous breakdown of aspartate and glutamate to n-ω-amino acids on the parent bodies of carbonaceous chondrites and asteroid Ryugu.

ABSTRACT: Amino acids in carbonaceous chondrites may have seeded the origin of life on Earth and possibly elsewhere. Recently, the return samples from a C-type asteroid Ryugu were found to contain amino acids with a similar distribution to Ivuna-type CI chondrites, suggesting the potential of amino acid abundances as molecular descriptors of parent body geochemistry. However, the chemical mechanisms responsible for the amino acid distributions remain to be elucidated particularly at low temperatures (<50°C). Here, we report that two representative proteinogenic amino acids, aspartic acid and glutamic acid, decompose to β-alanine and γ-aminobutyric acid, respectively, under simulated geoelectrochemical conditions at 25°C. This low-temperature conversion provides a plausible explanation for the enrich

SUBMITTER: Li Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10848742 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature