Formation of bioorganic compounds in aqueous solution induced by plasma

When plasma jet of Ar-arc plasma was blown into an aqueous solution containing organic compounds, oxidation reactions were induced in the solution. The plasma-induced reaction was a powerful oxidation which could convert a methyl to a carboxyl group and cleave a carbon-carbon bond without using any oxidizing reagent. This reaction could be regarded as a model for the solar plasma-induced reaction in the primitive hydrosphere.