Solid adenine and seawater salts exposed to gamma radiation: An FT-IR and EPR spectroscopy analysis for prebiotic chemistry

João Paulo T Baú; Daniel F Valezi; Sául A Villafañe-Barajas; María Colín-García; Alicia Negrón-Mendoza; Eduardo Di Mauro; Dimas A M Zaia

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e01584

Solid adenine and seawater salts exposed to gamma radiation: An FT-IR and EPR spectroscopy analysis for prebiotic chemistry

Heliyon. 2019 May 10;5(5):e01584. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e01584. eCollection 2019 May.

Authors

João Paulo T Baú¹, Daniel F Valezi², Sául A Villafañe-Barajas³, María Colín-García³, Alicia Negrón-Mendoza⁴, Eduardo Di Mauro², Dimas A M Zaia¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratório de Química Prebiótica, Departamento de Química-CCE, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, 86051-990, Londrina, PR, Brazil.
² Laboratório de Ressonância Paramagnética Eletrônica (LARPE), Departamento de Física-CCE, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, 86051-990, Londrina, PR, Brazil.
³ Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, Cd. Mx., Mexico.
⁴ Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, Cd. Mx, Mexico.

Abstract

Solids of adenine obtained from distilled water and seawater lyophilized solutions were γ irradiated at a 94.52 kGy dose. Results indicate that pure solid adenine had a low degradation rate, likewise the solid containing seawater salts. However, EPR spectroscopy analysis suggests a high interaction of the radiation with seawater salts, by radical formation in sulfate ions. These outcomes are of interest for prebiotic chemistry, since ions could have played important roles in chemical evolution. In addition, Martian soil is rich in sulphate salts, thus these salts could protected organic molecules being degraded by γ-radiation.

Keywords: Physical chemistry.