Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Organometallic Compounds As Carriers Of Extraterrestrial Cyanide In Primitive Meteorites, Karen E. Smith, Christopher H. House, Ricardo D. Arevalo Jr., Jason P. Dworkin, Michael P. Callahan

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Extraterrestrial delivery of cyanide may have been crucial for the origin of life on Earth since cyanide is involved in the abiotic synthesis of numerous organic compounds found in extant life; however, little is known about the abundance and species of cyanide present in meteorites. Here, we report cyanide abundance in a set of CM chondrites ranging from 50 ± 1 to 2472 ± 38 nmol·g⁻¹, which relates to the degree of aqueous alteration of the meteorite and indicates that parent body processing influenced cyanide abundance. Analysis of the Lewis Cliff 85311 meteorite shows that its releasable cyanide …