The radiolysis of aqueous acetonitrile: compounds of interest to chemical evolution studies

Oxygen-free aqueous solutions of CH3CN (0.1 M, pH 6) were exposed to gamma rays from a 60Co source, the mixture of nonvolatile radiolytic products was fractionated and the fractions were analysed. Succinic, maleic, fumaric, malonic and pyruvic acids were identified. Glycol aldehyde, glucose and probably ribose were observed in the hydrolysate of fractionated material. It has been suggested that an oligomer is formed which has a fragment with the polyhydroxy structure and on hydrolysis releases the carbohydrates. Radiolytic products which release amino acids on hydrolysis were found in several fractions. The amino acid contents of the hydrolysates were up to about 2.8% of the fraction mass. The presence of several protein and nonprotein amino acids suggests that their origin should be in a peptidic structure, which is probably a fragment of an oligomer radiolytically produced. A direct analysis of the irradiated solution shows the presence of acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, glyoxal and of biacetyl. Experimental findings are discussed and a free-radical mechanism is proposed to account for the chemical changes observed.