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Science 19 February 1999:
Vol. 283. no. 5405, pp. 1135 - 1138
DOI: 10.1126/science.283.5405.1135
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Reports

UV Irradiation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Ices: Production of Alcohols, Quinones, and Ethers

Max P. Bernstein, 12* Scott A. Sandford, 1 Louis J. Allamandola, 1 J. Seb Gillette, 3 Simon J. Clemett, 3 Richard N. Zare 3

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in water ice were exposed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation under astrophysical conditions, and the products were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. Peripheral carbon atoms were oxidized, producing aromatic alcohols, ketones, and ethers, and reduced, producing partially hydrogenated aromatic hydrocarbons, molecules that account for the interstellar 3.4-micrometer emission feature. These classes of compounds are all present in carbonaceous meteorites. Hydrogen and deuterium atoms exchange readily between the PAHs and the ice, which may explain the deuterium enrichments found in certain meteoritic molecules. This work has important implications for extraterrestrial organics in biogenesis.

1 NASA-Ames Research Center, Mail Stop 245-6, Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000, USA.
2 SETI Institute, 2035 Landings Drive, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.
3 Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5080, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mbernstein{at}mail.arc.nasa.gov

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Mass Spectrometry Special Feature: Laser mass spectrometric detection of extraterrestrial aromatic molecules: Mini-review and examination of pulsed heating effects.
M. K. Spencer, M. R. Hammond, and R. N. Zare (2008)
PNAS 105, 18096-18101
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Oxygen in Comets and Interplanetary Dust Particles.
S. A. Sandford, S. Messenger, M. DiSanti, L. Keller, and K. Altwegg (2008)
Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 68, 247-272
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Prebiotic materials from on and off the early Earth.
M. Bernstein (2006)
Phil Trans R Soc B 361, 1689-1702
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