Budget Amount *help |
¥25,480,000 (Direct Cost: ¥19,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥5,880,000)
Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,950,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥450,000)
Fiscal Year 2013: ¥4,420,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,020,000)
Fiscal Year 2012: ¥17,940,000 (Direct Cost: ¥13,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥4,140,000)
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Outline of Final Research Achievements |
In this study, we attempted a new method to determine the molecular structures and enantiomeric excesses (ee) of enentiomers in organic macromolecular solids in meteorites, in order to understand the diversity and universality in homochirality emergence and amplification mechanisms in the early Solar System. Insoluble organic matter (IOM) isolated from Murchison meteorite powder was chemically degraded by alkaline CuO degradation, and the degradation products were analyzed by a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry (GCMS). As a result, 7 kinds of dicarboxylic acids and 7 kinds of hydroxy acids, which have enantiomers, were identified. This result indicates that extraterrestrial homochirality could have existed not only in meteoritic amino acids but also in organic macromolecular solids. Further experiment to estimate ee values for the individual molecules will be necessary.
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