Amino-acid Synthesis from Gases detected in Interstellar Space

Abstract

Fox and Windsor¹ have synthesized amino-acids by heating a solution of formaldehyde, ammonia and water to 185° C and they interpreted their results in a cosmochemical context. We now report that reaction products from different combinations of ammonia, methanol vapour, formic acid vapour and formaldehyde react to produce amino-acids when exposed to ultraviolet radiation. Because ammonia², methanol³, formic acid⁴ and formaldehyde⁵ have been identified in interstellar space, our finding suggests that amino-acids can be formed without water in interstellar space. Also, in spite of the absence of conclusive evidence of the presence of any biomolecules indigenous to the lunar surface, our findings suggest that amino-acids can be formed on the Moon. Although the conditions of our experiments differed from those in interstellar space and on the Moon, we believe that our findings have implications for interstellar chemistry.