Thermal Studies of Ammonium Cyanide Reactions: A Model for Thermal Alteration of Prebiotic Compounds in Meteorite Parent Bodies

Abstract: Organic compounds in carbonaceous chondrites were likely transformed by a variety of parent body processes including thermal and aqueous processing. Here, we analyzed ammonium cyanide reactions that were heated at different temperatures and times by multiple analytical techniques. The goal of this study is to better understand the effect of hydrothermal alteration on cyanide chemistry, which is believed to be responsible for the abiotic synthesis of purine nucleobases and their structural ana…