TITLE:
Possible Relevance of the Allende Meteorite Conditions in Prebiotic Chemistry: An Insight into the Chondrules and Organic Compounds
AUTHORS:
Alejandro Heredia Barbero, Héctor G. Vázquez López, Adriana L. Meléndez López, Jorge A. Cruz Castañeda, Daniel Luna Laviada, Karina E. Cervantes de la Cruz, Victor Meza Laguna, Vladimir A. Basiuk, Ivonne Rosales Chávez, Alicia Negrón Mendoza, Sergio Ramos Bernal
KEYWORDS:
Allende Meteorite, Carbonaceous Chondrite, Light Microscopy, X-Ray Diffraction with the Rietveld Method, Raman Spectroscopy, Attenuated Total Reflectance Infrared Spectroscopy, Mass Spectrometry, Scanning Electron Mi-croscopy, Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy, Magnetic Force Microscopy
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Biological Chemistry,
Vol.13 No.3,
June
26,
2023
ABSTRACT: The study of the mineral and organic content of the Allende meteorite is important for our understanding of the molecular evolution of the universe as well as the ancient Earth. Previous studies have characterized the magnetic minerals present in ordinary and carbonaceous chondrites, providing information on the evolution of magnetic fields. The interaction of organic compounds with magnetic minerals is a possible source of chemical diversity, which is crucial for molecular evolution. Carbon compounds in meteorites are of great scientific interest for a variety of reasons, such as their relevance to the origins of chirality in living organisms. This study presents the characterization of organic and mineral compounds in the Allende meteorite. The structural and physicochemical characterization of the Allende meteorite was accomplished through light microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction with complementary Rietveld refinement, Raman and infrared spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy using magnetic signal methods to determine the complex structure and the interaction of organic compounds with magnetic Ni-Fe minerals. The presence of Liesegang-like patterns of chondrules in fragments of the Allende structure may also be relevant to understanding how the meteorite was formed. Other observations include the presence of magnetic materials and nanorod-like solids with relatively similar sizes as well as the heterogeneous distribution of carbon in chondrules. Signals observed in the Raman and infrared spectra resemble organic compounds such as carbon nanotubes and peptide-like molecules that have been previously reported in other meteorites, making the Mexican Allende meteorite a feasible sample for the study of the early Earth and exoplanetary bodies.