Amino acids in the Yamato carbonaceous chondrite from Antarctica
Amino acids in the Yamato carbonaceous chondrite from Antarctica
复制标题
南极洲大和碳质球粒陨石中的氨基酸
作者：
A. Shimoyama;C. Ponnamperuma;K. Yanai
最近在南极发现了1000多块陨石，这些陨石自陨落以来一直保存在南极冰盖中，并被带到裸露的冰面上。它们可能具有最小的陆地污染，从而为研究早期太阳星云5的原始有机合成和生命6，7出现之前的化学演化提供了新的机会。首次在Murchison碳质球粒陨石8，9中以蛋白质和非蛋白质氨基酸的形式发现了起源于外星的有机化合物，它们的D-和L对映体丰度相等。这一对映异构体的比例被用作后来在其他陨石10-13中发现的氨基酸的陨石来源的标准。我们在这里提供了在我们的南极碳质球粒陨石中存在来自外星的氨基酸的详细证据。
More than one thousand pieces of meteorites have been discovered recently in Antarctica1–4 which were preserved in the Antarctic Ice Sheet since their fall and were brought out on to the surface of the bare ice. They are likely to have the least possible terrestrial contamination, thus providing a new opportunity for the study of primordial organic synthesis in the early solar nebula5 and of chemical evolution before the emergence of life6,7. Organic compounds of extraterrestrial origin were first detected in the form of protein and non-protein amino acids with an equal abundance of their D- and L-enantiomers in the Murchison carbonaceous chondrite8,9. This ratio of enantiomers has been used as a criterion for the meteoritic origin of the amino acids detected subsequently in other meteorities10–13. We present here detailed evidence for the presence of amino acids of extraterrestrial origin in our Antarctic carbonaceous chondrite14.