journal article Jan 30, 2001

Self-assembling amphiphilic molecules: Synthesis in simulated interstellar/precometary ices

View at Publisher Save 10.1073/pnas.98.3.815
Abstract
Interstellar gas and dust constitute the primary material from
which the solar system formed. Near the end of the hot early phase of
star and planet formation, volatile, less refractory materials were
transported into the inner solar system as comets and interplanetary
dust particles. Once the inner planets had sufficiently cooled, late
accretionary infall seeded them with complex organic compounds
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125–131]. Delivery of such extraterrestrial compounds may have
contributed to the organic inventory necessary for the origin of life.
Interstellar ices, the building blocks of comets, tie up a large
fraction of the biogenic elements available in molecular clouds. In our
efforts to understand their synthesis, chemical composition, and
physical properties, we report here that a complex mixture of molecules
is produced by UV photolysis of realistic, interstellar ice analogs,
and that some of the components have properties relevant to the origin
of life, including the ability to self-assemble into vesicular
structures.
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Metrics
202
Citations
17
References
Details
Published
Jan 30, 2001
Vol/Issue
98(3)
Pages
815-819
Cite This Article
Jason P. Dworkin, David W. Deamer, Scott A. Sandford, et al. (2001). Self-assembling amphiphilic molecules: Synthesis in simulated interstellar/precometary ices. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 98(3), 815-819. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.98.3.815