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Schmitt-Kopplin, P. ; Gabelica, Z.* ; Gougeon, R.D.* ; Fekete, A. ; Kanawati, B. ; Harir, M. ; Gebefügi, I.L. ; Eckel, G.* ; Hertkorn, N.

High molecular diversity of extraterrestrial organic matter in Murchison meteorite revealed 40 years after its fall.

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 107, 2763-2768 (2010)
DOI PMC
Numerous descriptions of organic molecules present in the Murchison meteorite have improved our understanding of the early interstellar chemistry that operated at or just before the birth of our solar system. However, all molecular analyses were so far targeted toward selected classes of compounds with a particular emphasis on biologically active components in the context of prebiotic chemistry. Here we demonstrate that a nontargeted ultrahigh-resolution molecular analysis of the solvent-accessible organic fraction of Murchison extracted under mild conditions allows one to extend its indigenous chemical diversity to tens of thousands of different molecular compositions and likely millions of diverse structures. This molecular complexity, which provides hints on heteroatoms chronological assembly, suggests that the extraterrestrial chemodiversity is high compared to terrestrial relevant biological- and biogeochemical-driven chemical space.
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Publication type Article: Journal article
Document type Scientific Article
Corresponding Author
Keywords Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry; Interstellar chemistry; Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy; Organic chondrite; Soluble organic matter
ISSN (print) / ISBN 0027-8424
e-ISSN 1091-6490
Quellenangaben Volume: 107, Issue: 7, Pages: 2763-2768 Article Number: , Supplement: ,
Publisher National Academy of Sciences
Non-patent literature Publications
Reviewing status Peer reviewed
Institute(s) Institute of Ecological Chemistry (IOEC)