Formation of glycine on ultraviolet-irradiated interstellar ice-analog films and implications for interstellar amino acids

Abstract

We report the synthesis of glycine on interstellar ice-analog films composed of water, methylamine (MA), and carbon dioxide under irradiation of ultraviolet (UV) photons. Analysis of the UV-irradiated ice films by in situ mass spectrometric methods revealed glycine and other isomers as photochemical products. Deuterium-labeling experiments were conducted to determine the structures of the photoproducts and to examine their formation pathways. The reactions occur via photocleavages of C-H and N-H bonds in MA, followed by subsequent reactions of the nascent H atom with CO2, leading to the formation of HOCO and then to glycine and carbamic acid. The photochemical synthesis of glycine occurs efficiently at the ice surfaces, and the competing photosynthesis and photodestruction processes can reach a steady-state kinetic balance at an extended UV exposure, maintaining a substantial population level of glycine. The observation suggests that interstellar amino acids can be created on ice grains, and that they can also be stored in the ices by maintaining a kinetic balance under interstellar UV irradiation. As such, the transport of amino acids in interstellar space may be possible without depleting the net abundance of amino acids in the ices but rather increasing the structural diversity of the molecules. © 2009. The American Astronomical Society.