Titan's Primordial Soup: Formation of Amino Acids via Low-Temperature Hydrolysis of Tholins

• DOI: 10.1089/ast.2009.0402
• Publication Date: 2010-05-07T02:36:40Z
• Authors: Catherine D. Neish; Árpád Somogyi; Mark A. Smith
• Keywords: Cold Temperature; Molecular Weight; Saturn; Extraterrestrial Environment; 13. Climate action; Hydrolysis; 0103 physical sciences; Amino Acids; Organic Chemicals; Protons; 01 natural sciences; Mass Spectrometry; Thymine

Titan organic haze analogues, or "tholins," produce biomolecules when hydrolyzed at low temperature over long timescales. By using a combination of high-resolution mass spectroscopy and tandem spectrometry fragmentation techniques, four amino acids were identified in tholin sample that had been 13 wt % ammonia-water solution 253 ± 1 K 293 for year. These species have assigned as the asparagine, aspartic acid, glutamine, glutamic acid. This represents first detection biologically relevant molecules created under conditions thought to be similar those found impact melt pools cryolavas on Titan, which are stage chemical evolution not unlike "primordial soup" early Earth. Future missions should therefore carry instrumentation capable of, but certainly limited to, detecting other prebiotic Titan's surface. Key Words: Titan—Prebiotic chemistry. Astrobiology 10, 337–347.