Other
Scientific paper
Jul 1993
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1993metic..28..330b&link_type=abstract
Meteoritics, vol. 28, no. 3, volume 28, page 330
Other
4
Abee, Allende, Carbon, Carboxylic Acids, Chondrites, Forest City, Leedey, Murchison, New Concord, Olivenza, Organic Compounds, Parnallee, Pillistfer, Richardton
Scientific paper
The concentrations of formic and acetic acid have been determined using ion exclusion chromatography after water extraction from several chondritic meteorite samples. Monocarboxylic acids are of great importance because of their high concentration in meteorites and for their role as precursor molecules in organic synthesis [1]. The concentration of acetic acid has been determined previously using gas chromatography [2,3]. Prior gas chromatographic analyses failed to resolve formic acid and so the results were limited to carboxylic acids having two or more carbons. Alternatively, wet chemical methods for the determination of formic acid, although precise, are lengthy and difficult to reproduce [4]. Ion exclusion chromatography (ICE) is an excellent technique for the simultaneous determination of formic and acetic acids. Using ICE the carboxylic acids can be determined in less time and with minimal sample handling. In most cases the amount of formic acid present is found to be lower than the amount of acetic acid present. This contradicts the accepted synthesis scheme of higher homologs being made from lower members, where the formic acid would be expected to have a higher concentration than acetic acid. Other monocarboxylic acids in the homologous series (C(sub)2-C(sub)7) have been shown to decrease with increasing carbon number as expected [2,3]. This data suggests that either the formic acid may have been preferentially depleted or it may have a different synthesis mechanism as compared with the other monocarboxylic acids present in meteorites. Additionally, there is a relationship between the amount of formic and acetic acid present and the oxidation state of the iron in the chondrites. As the matrix environment becomes more oxidizing, the amount of the two monocarboxylic acids increases comparatively. Furthermore, the ratio of formic to acetic acid starts to increase as the metal phase is more oxidized, suggesting that a more oxidized matrix environment in some way makes the production of higher homologs from lower members more favorable. References: [1] Cronin J. R. et al. (1988) In Meteorites and the Early Solar System (J. F. Kerridge and M. S. Matthews, eds.), 819-857. Univ. of Arizona. [2] Yuen G. U. and Kvenvolden K. A. (1974) Nature, 246, 301-303. [3] Yuen G. et al. (1984) Nature, 307, 252-254. [4] Kimball B. (1988) M.S. thesis, Arizona State Univ. [5] Urey H. C. and Craig H. (1953) GCA, 4, 36-82. [6] Sears D. W. and Dodd R. T. (1988) In Meteorites and the Early Solar System (J. F. Kerridge and M. S. Matthews, eds.), 3-31. Univ. of Arizona. Table 1, which appears here in the hard copy, shows a representative concentration of formic and acetic acid (in ppm) for select chondrites as measured by ion exclusion chromatography.
Briscoe J. F.
Moore Carleton B.
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