Abiotic formation of alkylsulfonic acids in interstellar analog ices and implications for their detection on Ryugu.

ABSTRACT: For the last century, the source of sulfur in Earth's very first organisms has remained a fundamental, unsolved enigma. While sulfates and their organic derivatives with sulfur in the S(+VI) oxidation state represent core nutrients in contemporary biochemistry, the limited bioavailability of sulfates during Earth's early Archean period proposed that more soluble S(+IV) compounds served as the initial source of sulfur for the first terrestrial microorganisms. Here, we reveal via laboratory simulation experiments that the three simplest alkylsulfonic acids-water soluble organic S(+IV) compounds-can be efficiently produced in interstellar, sulfur-doped ices through interaction with galactic cosmic rays. This discovery opens a previously elusive path into the synthesis of vital astrobiological

SUBMITTER: McAnally M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11526038 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature