The soluble organic compounds of the Mukundpura meteorite: A new CM chondrite fall

Sandra Pizzarello, Christopher T. Yarnes

Planetary and Space Science
Available online 2 July 2018

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“Highlights

• The first analyses of water-soluble organic content of the MK meteorite are presented and MK composition appears to be very similar to the ones previously described for other CM chondrites such as Murchison.
• The amino acids in MK extracts revealed L-enantiomeric excess (ee) for both Isovaline and Isobutylamine, a finding that substantiates the fact that the presence of ee in CMs is far from unique and could have been a common feature of a prebiotic input by meteorites to early Earth.”

“We analyzed the water extracts of the recently fallen Mukundpura (MK) meteorite and searched for amino-, hydroxy- and carboxylic acids, amines and their possible enantiomeric excesses. All water-soluble compounds detected so far were found to have distributions similar to those identified in Murchison, with the main compositional differences of lower yields overall and absence in MK of longer chain compounds. Enantiomeric excesses were detected in MK for (S) isovaline and (S) sec-butylamine, the compounds that displayed them in several CM and CR chondrites. We also obtained a preliminary survey of MK hydrocarbons by extracting with solvent their water-extracted powders. MK hydrocarbons presented a suite containing far fewer linear species and is dominated by likely contaminants branched alkanes. Given the large variability of abundances and ee values reported so far within and between meteorites, repeat analyses of MK stones will be needed to better evaluate their extent in the new meteorite.”