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Updated: Jun 14, 2025

Curation of Computational Chemical Libraries Demonstrated with Alpha-Amino Acids
Published on: April 13, 2022
Variations of organic functional chemistry in carbonaceous matter from the asteroid 162173 Ryugu
Bradley De Gregorio1, George D Cody2, Rhonda M Stroud3
1Materials Science and Technology Division, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA. bradley.t.degregorio.civ@us.navy.mil.
Abstract:
Primordial carbon delivered to the early earth by asteroids and meteorites provided a diverse source of extraterrestrial organics from pre-existing simple organic compounds, complex solar-irradiated macromolecules, and macromolecules from extended hydrothermal processing. Surface regolith collected by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft from the carbon-rich asteroid 162173 Ryugu present a unique opportunity to untangle the sources and processing history of carbonaceous matter. Here we show carbonaceous grains in Ryugu can be classified into three main populations defined by spectral shape: Highly aromatic (HA), Alkyl-Aromatic (AA), and IOM-like (IL). These carbon populations may be related to primordial chemistry, since C and N isotopic compositions vary between the three groups. Diffuse carbon is occasionally dominated by molecular carbonate preferentially associated with coarse-grained phyllosilicate minerals. Compared to related carbonaceous meteorites, the greater diversity of organic functional chemistry in Ryugu indicate the pristine condition of these asteroid samples.
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