Sulfur and hydrogen isotope anomalies in meteorite sulfonic acids
G W Cooper1, M H Thiemens, T L Jackson
1SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center, MS 239-4, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
Abstract:
Intramolecular carbon, hydrogen, and sulfur isotope ratios were measured on a homologous series of organic sulfonic acids discovered in the Murchison meteorite. Mass-independent sulfur isotope fractionations were observed along with high deuterium/hydrogen ratios. The deuterium enrichments indicate formation of the hydrocarbon portion of these compounds in a low-temperature environment that is consistent with that of interstellar clouds. Sulfur-33 enrichments observed in methanesulfonic acid could have resulted from gas-phase ultraviolet irradiation of a precursor, carbon disulfide. The source of the sulfonic acid precursors may have been the reactive interstellar molecule carbon monosulfide.
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