Journal article

Publication year: 2019

Pages: 5663-5667

Journal: Angewandte Chemie International Edition

Volume number: 58

Issue number: 17

ISSN: 1433-7851

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201901059

Publisher: Wiley

Abstract: 
With nearly 200 molecules detected in interstellar and circumstellar environments, the identification of the biologically relevant alpha-keto carboxylic acid, glyoxylic acid (HCOCOOH), is still elusive. Herein, the formation of glyoxylic acid via cosmic-ray driven, non-equilibrium chemistry in polar interstellar ices of carbon monoxide (CO) and water (H2O) at 5 K via barrierless recombination of formyl (HCO) and hydroxycarbonyl radicals (HOCO) is reported. In temperature-programmed desorption experiments, the subliming neutral molecules were selectively photoionized and identified based on the ionization energy and distinct mass-to-charge ratios in combination with isotopically labeled experiments exploiting reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometry. These studies unravel a key reaction path to glyoxylic acid, an organic molecule formed in interstellar ices before subliming in star-forming regions like SgrB2(N), thus providing a critical entry point to prebiotic organic synthesis.

Harvard Citation style: Eckhardt, A., Bergantini, A., Singh, S., Schreiner, P. and Kaiser, R. (2019) Formation of Glyoxylic Acid in Interstellar Ices: A Key Entry Point for Prebiotic Chemistry, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 58(17), pp. 5663-5667. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201901059

APA Citation style: Eckhardt, A., Bergantini, A., Singh, S., Schreiner, P., & Kaiser, R. (2019). Formation of Glyoxylic Acid in Interstellar Ices: A Key Entry Point for Prebiotic Chemistry. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 58(17), 5663-5667. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201901059