Interstellar molecules and prebiological evolution
Abstract
In an effort to investigate the possibility that life on earth originated on the basis of interstellar (or so-called 'first generation') molecules, the paper examines the possible directions of evolution of three generations of organic compounds in space. The discussion is carried out with reference to the validity of the molecular tunneling mechanism demonstrated for the polymerization of formaldehyde. It is suggested that all first-generation molecules (except HCN) should have been fully destroyed in the region where the terrestrial group of planets was formed. This excludes the possibility that interstellar molecules could have been the basis for the evolution of life on earth.
- Publication:
-
Akademiia Nauk SSSR Doklady
- Pub Date:
- October 1978
- Bibcode:
- 1978DoSSR.243Q.299G
- Keywords:
-
- Abiogenesis;
- Chemical Evolution;
- Interstellar Chemistry;
- Organic Compounds;
- Earth (Planet);
- Formaldehyde;
- Interstellar Matter;
- Polymerization;
- Radiation Effects;
- Astrophysics