TY - JOUR
T1 - Nucleobase synthesis in interstellar ices
AU - Oba, Yasuhiro
AU - Takano, Yoshinori
AU - Naraoka, Hiroshi
AU - Watanabe, Naoki
AU - Kouchi, Akira
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Dr. M. Hashiguchi (Kyushu University) for her technical supports on the sample analysis by the orbitrap MS. We also thank Drs. N. Ohkouchi and S. Furota (JAMSTEC) for the discussion of nitrogen molecules. Drs. T. Hama and W.M.C. Sameera (ILTS, Hokkaido University) are acknowledged for the discussion on the formation of nucleobases in interstellar environments. This work was partly supported by MEXT KAKENHI Grant Number JP25108006 and JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers JP15H05749, JP16H04083, and JP17H04862.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, The Author(s).
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - The synthesis of nucleobases in natural environments, especially in interstellar molecular clouds, is the focus of a long-standing debate regarding prebiotic chemical evolution. Here we report the simultaneous detection of all three pyrimidine (cytosine, uracil and thymine) and three purine nucleobases (adenine, xanthine and hypoxanthine) in interstellar ice analogues composed of simple molecules including H2O, CO, NH3 and CH3OH after exposure to ultraviolet photons followed by thermal processes, that is, in conditions that simulate the chemical processes accompanying star formation from molecular clouds. Photolysis of primitive gas molecules at 10 K might be one of the key steps in the production of nucleobases. The present results strongly suggest that the evolution from molecular clouds to stars and planets provides a suitable environment for nucleobase synthesis in space.
AB - The synthesis of nucleobases in natural environments, especially in interstellar molecular clouds, is the focus of a long-standing debate regarding prebiotic chemical evolution. Here we report the simultaneous detection of all three pyrimidine (cytosine, uracil and thymine) and three purine nucleobases (adenine, xanthine and hypoxanthine) in interstellar ice analogues composed of simple molecules including H2O, CO, NH3 and CH3OH after exposure to ultraviolet photons followed by thermal processes, that is, in conditions that simulate the chemical processes accompanying star formation from molecular clouds. Photolysis of primitive gas molecules at 10 K might be one of the key steps in the production of nucleobases. The present results strongly suggest that the evolution from molecular clouds to stars and planets provides a suitable environment for nucleobase synthesis in space.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41467-019-12404-1
DO - 10.1038/s41467-019-12404-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 31562325
AN - SCOPUS:85072711584
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 10
JO - Nature communications
JF - Nature communications
IS - 1
M1 - 4413
ER -