Synthesis of prebiotic glycerol in interstellar ices

Contemporary mechanisms for the spontaneous formation of glycerol have not been able to explain its existence on early Earth. The exogenous origin and delivery of organic molecules to early Earth presents an alternative route to their terrestrial in situ formation since biorelevant molecules like amino acids, carboxylic acids, and alkylphosphonic acids have been recovered from carbonaceous chondrites. Reported herein is the first in situ identification of glycerol, the key building block of all cellular membranes, formed by exposure of methanol-based - interstellar model ices to ionizing radiation in the form of energetic electrons. These results provide compelling evidence that the radiation-induced formation of glycerol in low-temperature interstellar model ices is facile. Synthesized on interstellar grains and eventually incorporated into the "building material" of solar systems, biorelevant molecules such as glycerol could have been dispensed to habitable planets such as early Earth by comets and meteorites.