Amino Acid Relative Found in a Cosmic Cloud ⚡ экспресс
Glycine—the simplest amino acid—has not been detected in the interstellar medium, motivating the search for other C2H5O2N isomers as observational tracers. Using ALMA observations at 1 mm wavelength toward the hot molecular core G358.93-0.03 MM1, methyl carbamate has been securely detected for the first time: ten unblended rotational transitions were identified, yielding a column density of (4.21±0.84)×10^15 cm^{-2} and an excitation temperature of 204±10 K. Searches for glycine and other isomers yielded only upper limits on their abundances. The abundance pattern deviates significantly from predictions based on the minimum energy principle, pointing to the dominance of kinetic rather than thermodynamically controlled processes. The observed methyl carbamate abundance is consistent with formation on dust grain surfaces via recombination of CH3O and NH2CO radicals, as supported by correlations with methanol and formamide. This discovery makes methyl carbamate a new anchor point for studying glycine chemistry, placing constraints on synthesis pathways of amino acids in star-forming regions.
For nearly half a century, astronomers searched space for glycine, one of the simplest building blocks of proteins. Instead, in a cloud surrounding a newborn star, they found methyl carbamate, its isomer: the same atoms, but assembled differently, like two models from the same set of parts.
The ALMA antenna array captured the molecule's signal. Its radio fingerprint revealed that methyl carbamate is about a hundred times more abundant than expected in a stable equilibrium. It seems that in these cosmic nurseries, chemical reactions proceed not sedately, but briskly and rapidly.
Likely, the substance forms on the surface of dust grains from carbon-rich debris—like pieces of a construction set randomly gluing together in the dark. Now, by comparing the abundance of methyl carbamate and other building blocks across different parts of the Galaxy, scientists can trace the path from simple molecules to life’s complex bricks.
🎯 On Earth, the same methyl carbamate is a raw material for medicines and... insecticides. So the molecule that helps us understand the origins of life also underpins the creation of means to destroy it.
🎬 The idea of panspermia, that life can hitch a ride on comets, gains chemical support. Fred Hoyle already painted a similar scenario in his novel 'The Black Cloud'.