Analysis of Soluble Organics in Carbonaceous Meteorites

The study of the soluble organic compounds extracted from carbonaceous chondrites provide valuable insights about the organic chemical inventory available before and during the formation of the Solar System, and about the synthetic/destructive processes faced by these molecules while contained inside the meteorite's parent body over the last 4.5 billion years. Analysis of distinct groups of compounds including aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, amino acids, amines, and carboxylic acids among other types of compounds and those that have not yet been identified, has revealed a highly complex and diverse molecular composition which origins remains poorly understood.

A first major step to unveil the origins of meteoritic organics would be the direct comparison of the abundance and molecular distribution of meteoritic organics to trace potential synthetic links between structurally analogous types of compounds. This step is challenging, given that carbonaceous chondrites not only often show a heterogenous composition, but also, because the different analytical tools used by different laboratories throughout years of research (e.g., different chemical derivatizations and/or instrumentation) may show different resulting quantifications.

The second major step for identifying the main synthetic pathways resulting in meteoritic organics would be understanding the relationship between molecular abundance/distribution and the degrees of aqueous and thermal processing experienced by different parent bodies. Understanding the synthesis, decomposition, and re-synthesis of organics within meteorites would provide clues as to the maximum and lower limits of compounds produced during parent body stage. Furthermore, this knowledge could potentially lead to more precise estimations of the original budget present during parent body accretion. We will discuss these limitations and will use the available data currently present in the literature to evaluate some of the diverse synthetic pathways that may have led to the occurrence of organic compounds in carbonaceous chondrites.