High Energy Radical Chemistry Formation of HCN-rich Atmospheres on early Earth

Authors: M. Ferus, P. Kubelík, A. Knízek, A. Pastorek, J. Sutherland, S. Civiš Recent results in prebiotic chemistry implicate hydrogen cyanide (HCN) as the source of carbon and nitrogen for the synthesis of nucleotide, amino acid and lipid building blocks. HCN can be produced during impact events by reprocessing of carbonaceous and nitrogenous materials from both the impactor and the…

Termination of •CH2OH/CH2O•- Radicals in Aqueous Solution

Authors: W. Wang, M. N. Schuchmann, Vinzens Bachler, H. Schuchmann, C. Sonntag Hydroxymethyl radical•CH2OH and its radical anion •CH2O- (pKa 10.7) were generated pulse-radiolytically in N2O-saturated aqueous solutions of methanol. The overall decay is by second-order kinetics. At pH ≤ 8 (•CH2OH, 2k = 1.7 × 109 dm3 mol-1 s-1), one observes ethylene glycol and formaldehyde plus methanol in a…

Radiolysis of methanol vapour

Authors: J. H. Baxendale, R.D. Sedgwick The yields of hydrogen, formaldehyde, ethylene glycol, methane and carbon monoxide from the radiolysis of methanol vapour have been measured and also those of H2 and HD from CH3OD. These have been correlated with the ions observed in the mass spectra. Benzene decreases the yields of hydrogen and formaldehyde and the effect is attributed…