Tag: ta2.12

22-EPN3-065: Ion Bombardment of Glycine and Glycine Embedded Within Water Ice in Solar System and Interstellar Conditions

Visit by María Belén Maté and Ramón Javier Peláez (IEM-CSIC, Spain) to TA2.12 Atomki-Queen’s University Ice Laboratory for Astrochemistry (Hungary).
Dates of visit: 07-11 November 2023

Report Summary: The possibility that prebiotic precursors of life formed in the space and were then transported to the early Earth by comets, asteroids and meteorites is a fascinating hypothesis. We focus in this project on hydroxylamine, NH₂OH, a key N-bearing species that has been proposed as an important precursor in the formation of amino acids like glycine or alanine. Very recently, hydroxylamine has been detected in the gas phase in dense clouds in the interstellar medium. It has been predicted to form efficiently on dust grains according to laboratory experiments and chemical models. Then, the presence of this species in ISM ices and on the surface of Solar System bodies is probable, and in those surfaces can react to form more complex prebiotic species like amino acids.

Although the chemical pathways leading to the formation of NH₂OH in astrophysical ices have been thoroughly studied, the next step in the chemical evolution that would begin with NH₂OH as a precursor in ice has, to our knowledge, not been addressed experimentally.

In this TA project the team studied the chemistry induced by Cosmic Rays on ices containing hydroxylamine. They studied pure NH₂OH ices and mixtures with H₂O, CO and D₂O, at 20 K, irradiated with 15 keV H⁺ ions. In particular, we were interested in finding complex organic molecules in the processed ices, and learning how different ice composition affects the chemistry and the destruction efficiency of NH₂OH by Cosmic Rays.

22-EPN3-065: Ion Bombardment of Glycine and Glycine Embedded Within Water Ice in Solar System and Interstellar Conditions

Visit by Alfred Hopkinson (Aarhus University, Denmark) to TA2.12 Atomki-Queen’s University Ice Laboratory for Astrochemistry (Hungary).
Dates of visit: 04-08 December 2023

Report Summary: During this TNA visit, the simplest amino acid glycine (NH₂CH₂COOH), and its deuterated analogs, partially deuterated d3-glycine (ND₂CH₂COOD) and fully deuterated d5-glycine (ND₂CD₂COOD), were irradiated using 10 KeV protons. The subsequent products of this processing were then measured using infrared spectroscopy and a quadrupole mass spectrometer. The aim of this was to investigate the products of glycine destruction and investigate if this energetic processing could result in the formation of glycine peptides. The outcome of the TNA visit was the collection of infrared spectra of the irradiation of these molecules and then following this, temperature-programmed desorption measurements. These preliminary results show the formation of CO₂, CO, and D₂O.

Full scientific report published by kind permission of Alfred Hopkinson.

22-EPN3-086: Exploring the Effects of H+, On+, and Sn+ Irradiation of Water Ice, plus an ISM relevant Molecule, as a Potential Prebiotic Europa Ocean Analogue

Visit by Alexandra Corrigan, University of Kent (UK) to TA2.12 Atomki-Queen’s University Ice Laboratory for Astrochemistry (Hungary).
Dates of visit: 15 May – 06 June 2023

Report Summary: At the AQUILA chamber in the ECRIS Laboratory at the Atomki Institute for Nuclear Research the effects of H⁺, O²⁺, and S⁵⁺ irradiation of water ice, plus Formamide, as a potential prebiotic Europa ocean analogue were explored. Three sodium chloride windows, covered with a 1:1 ice mixture of water and Formamide, were irradiated with ion beams. The windows were cooled down to 90K in vacuum, and a 200-250 nm thick ice layer was deposited at them. In the first experiment, the sample was irradiated using a 15keV H⁺ ion beam in 12 steps, up to a total fluence of 1.1x 10¹⁵ ion/cm². After each irradiation steps an infra-red (IR) spectrum was taken to observe the irradiation products. After completing, the sample was warmed up to 300K in 30K increments, taking an IR spectrum at each interval. During both irradiation and heating, the sputtered molecules were monitored by QMS. Finally, after a full warming up of the cold parts we opened the chamber, removed the sample (for post-TA residue analysis using LCMS/MS), replaced the NaCl window, and pumped the chamber. This protocol was repeated (with different irradiation fluences) for 30keV O²⁺ and 60keV S⁵⁺ ion beams. All the sample windows have been taken for residue analysis. From initial analysis of the spectra it seems that the Formamide was broken, and formed products such as CO, CO₂, OCN^–, and CN^–. Further investigation is required to confirm these results and to determine what other products were created during the irradiation.