acetic acid Archives - Astrobiology

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Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Sample Return, Status Report

Analytical Characterization Approaches to Measure Prebiotically Relevant Compounds in High Salinity Impact-Induced Hydrothermal Systems

by Keith CowingMay 17, 2026May 17, 2026

Experiments exploring potential emergence-of-life chemistry in a laboratory setting critically depend on simulating realistic early-Earth environments. Such experimental conditions include the implementation of controlled high temperatures and pressures, anoxic gas […]

Using the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), researchers detected organic molecules with more than six atoms frozen in ice around a young star called ST6 forming in the neighboring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud. The full galaxy is shown in the far-infrared image in the top right inset. The main image is the zoom-in on the star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud hosting the protostar ST6. It is a combination of mid-infrared data from Spitzer and visible (H-alpha) data from the 0.9-m Curtis Schmidt Telescope. The Webb’s MIRI image at a wavelength of 19 microns in the main inset shows the protostar ST6. Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/JPL-Caltech/M. Sewiło et al. (2025)

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Interstellar, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Building Blocks Of Life Located In Ice Around A Forming Star In A Neighboring Galaxy

by Keith CowingOctober 21, 2025October 21, 2025

In a discovery that could reshape our understanding of how the chemical ingredients for life spread throughout the cosmos, astronomers detected organic molecules with more than six atoms frozen in […]

Graphical Abstract: γ-Ray is capable of driving an aqueous-phase CH4+H2O+O2 conversion selectively into CH3COOH via ⋅CH3 and ⋅OH radical intermediates, and driving an aqueous-phase CH3COOH+NH3 conversion into NH2CH2COOH via ⋅CH2COOH and ⋅NH2 radical intermediates. Such γ-ray driven aqueous-phase methane conversions probably play an important role in the formation network of complex organic molecules in the universe, and provides a strategy to convert abundant CH4 into value-added products at mild conditions. -- Angewandte Chemie International Edition

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release

Interstellar Methane As Progenitor Of Amino Acids?

by Keith CowingNovember 7, 2024November 7, 2024

Gamma radiation can convert methane into a wide variety of products at room temperature, including hydrocarbons, oxygen-containing molecules, and amino acids, reports a research team in the journal Angewandte Chemie.

An international team of scientists using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has identified a wealth of complex, carbon-containing (organic) molecules surrounding two protostars. This graphic shows the spectrum of one of the two protostars, IRAS 2A. It includes the fingerprints of acetaldehyde, ethanol, methylformate, and likely acetic acid, in the solid phase. These and other molecules detected there by Webb represent key ingredients for making potentially habitable worlds. -- ESA

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release

Webb Telescope Finds A Wide Variety of Organic Molecules Surrounding Early-stage Protostars

by Keith CowingMarch 24, 2024March 24, 2024

An international team of astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have discovered a variety of molecules, ranging from relatively simple ones like methane to complex compounds like acetic […]

Astronomers identified icy compounds made of complex organic molecules like alcohol and likely acetic acid, using MIRI, which was managed through launch by JPL.

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Webb Space Telescope Finds Ethanol And Other Organic Molecules Surrounding Young Protostars

by Keith CowingMarch 13, 2024March 13, 2024

What do margaritas, vinegar, and ant stings have in common? They contain chemical ingredients that NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has identified surrounding two young protostars known as IRAS 2A […]

Tentative detection of oxalic acid (HOOC-COOH) during warm-up of an UV-irradiated CH3COOH:H2O ice sample (Exp. 11). Left panel: QMS signal for 𝑚 𝑧 = 44, 45 and 46. These fragments are representative of the oxalic acid, while 𝑚 𝑧 = 21 is not expected to correspond to any molecule and is used as a reference. Centre panel: mass spectrum of oxalic acid taken from NIST database. Right panel: scheme to form oxalic acid via radical-radical reaction from photon and thermal processing of acetic acid-containing ices. The formation temperature of oxalic acid could not be determined, since oxalic acid was only detected from QMS data in the gas phase during thermal desorption. -- astro-ph.IM

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report

UV-photoprocessing Of Acetic Acid (CH3COOH)-bearing Interstellar Ice Analogs

by Keith CowingDecember 6, 2023December 6, 2023

Acetic acid (CH3COOH) was detected in the gas toward interstellar clouds, hot cores, protostars and comets. Its formation in ice mantles was proposed and acetic acid awaits detection in the […]

Selected transitions of cis-trans HOCOOH identified toward the G+0.693–0.027 molecular cloud (listed in Table 1). The result of the best LTE fit is shown with a red solid line, while the blue line shows the expected molecular emission from all the molecular species identified to date in our survey. The observed spectra are plotted as gray histograms. The structure of cis-trans HOCOOH is also depicted (carbon atoms in grey; oxygen atoms are in red, and hydrogen atoms in white). -- astro-ph.GA

Astrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Interstellar, Status Report

Discovery Of The Elusive Carbonic Acid (HOCOOH) In Space

by Keith CowingJuly 18, 2023

After a quarter century since the detection of the last interstellar carboxylic acid, acetic acid (CH3COOH), we report the discovery of a new one, the cis-trans form of carbonic acid […]