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Amino acids of the Murchison meteorite. I - Six carbon acyclic primary alpha-amino alkanoic acidsSix of the seven chain isomers of six-carbon acyclic primary alpha-amino alkanoic acids (leucine isomers) have been either identified or confirmed in hot-water extracts of the Murchison meteorite using combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and ion exchange chromatography. 2-Amino-2-ethylbutyric acid, 2-amino-2,3-dimethylbutyric acid, pseudoleucine, and 2-methylnorvaline were positively identified by GC-MS. These amino acids have not been previously reported to occur in natural materials and may be uniquely meteoritic in origin. The presence of leucine and isoleucine (including the diastereoisomer, alloisoleucine) was confirmed. Peaks corresponding to norleucine were seen by ion-exchange and gas chromatography but characteristic mass spectra were not obtained. The alpha-branched chain isomers in this series are quantitatively the most significant. These results are compared with literature data on amino acid synthesis by electrical discharge and Fischer-Tropsch-type catalysis. Neither model system produces an amino acid suite that is completely comparable to that found in the Murchison meteorite.
Document ID
19810061091
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Cronin, J. R.
(Arizona State Univ. Tempe, AZ, United States)
Gandy, W. E.
(Arizona State Univ. Tempe, AZ, United States)
Pizzarello, S.
(Arizona State University Tempe, AZ, United States)
Date Acquired
August 11, 2013
Publication Date
August 1, 1981
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Molecular Evolution
Volume: 17
Subject Category
Space Biology
Accession Number
81A45495
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSG-7255
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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