Relevance and Significance of Extraterrestrial Abiological Hydrocarbon Chemistry

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• 作者：George A. Olah ; Thomas Mathew ; G. K. Surya Prakash
• 刊名：Journal of the American Chemical Society
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：June 8, 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：138
• 期：22
• 页码：6905-6911
• 全文大小：383K
• 年卷期：0
• ISSN：1520-5126

文摘

Astrophysical observations show similarity of observed abiological “organics”—i.e., hydrocarbons, their derivatives, and ions (carbocations and carbanions)—with studied terrestrial chemistry. Their formation pathways, their related extraterrestrial hydrocarbon chemistry originating from carbon and other elements after the Big Bang, their parent hydrocarbon and derivative (methane and methanol, respectively), and transportation of derived building blocks of life by meteorites or comets to planet Earth are discussed in this Perspective. Their subsequent evolution on Earth under favorable “Goldilocks” conditions led to more complex molecules and biological systems, and eventually to humans. The relevance and significance of extraterrestrial hydrocarbon chemistry to the limits of science in relation to the physical aspects of evolution on our planet Earth are also discussed.