Irradiation of glyceraldehyde under simulated prebiotic conditions: Study in solid and aqueous state

Abstract

We investigated the radiolysis of dl-glyceraldehyde in a solid state and in an aqueous solution. The catalytic effect of a clay onto glyceraldehyde was also studied. We carried out the irradiation in a 60Co gamma ray source (Gammabeam 650 PT), with doses up to 360 kGy, at three temperatures (77, 198 and 295 K). For the analysis, we used various spectroscopic and chromatographic analytical methods. The results show that this compound is labile under irradiation and that it forms malondialdehyde, glycolaldehyde and other sugar-like compounds that are important in chemical-evolution studies.