Year-Long Stability of Nucleic Acid Bases in Concentrated Sulfuric Acid: Implications for the Persistence of Organic Chemistry in Venus’ Clouds
We show that the nucleic acid bases adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine, and uracil, as well as 2,6-diaminopurine, and the “core” nucleic acid bases purine and pyrimidine, are stable for more than one year in concentrated sulfuric acid at room temperature and at acid concentratio...
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MDPI AG
2024
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/155070 |
| _version_ | 1824458202820902912 |
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| author | Seager, Sara Petkowski, Janusz J. Seager, Maxwell D. Grimes, John H. Zinsli, Zachary Vollmer-Snarr, Heidi R. Abd El-Rahman, Mohamed K. Wishart, David S. Lee, Brian L. Gautam, Vasuk Herrington, Lauren Bains, William Darrow, Charles |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Seager, Sara Petkowski, Janusz J. Seager, Maxwell D. Grimes, John H. Zinsli, Zachary Vollmer-Snarr, Heidi R. Abd El-Rahman, Mohamed K. Wishart, David S. Lee, Brian L. Gautam, Vasuk Herrington, Lauren Bains, William Darrow, Charles |
| author_sort | Seager, Sara |
| collection | MIT |
| description | We show that the nucleic acid bases adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine, and uracil, as well as 2,6-diaminopurine, and the “core” nucleic acid bases purine and pyrimidine, are stable for more than one year in concentrated sulfuric acid at room temperature and at acid concentrations relevant for Venus clouds (81% <i>w</i>/<i>w</i> to 98% <i>w</i>/<i>w</i> acid, the rest water). This work builds on our initial stability studies and is the first ever to test the reactivity and structural integrity of organic molecules subjected to extended incubation in concentrated sulfuric acid. The one-year-long stability of nucleic acid bases supports the notion that the Venus cloud environment—composed of concentrated sulfuric acid—may be able to support complex organic chemicals for extended periods of time. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T13:09:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/155070 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-19T04:22:09Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1550702025-01-05T04:43:38Z Year-Long Stability of Nucleic Acid Bases in Concentrated Sulfuric Acid: Implications for the Persistence of Organic Chemistry in Venus’ Clouds Seager, Sara Petkowski, Janusz J. Seager, Maxwell D. Grimes, John H. Zinsli, Zachary Vollmer-Snarr, Heidi R. Abd El-Rahman, Mohamed K. Wishart, David S. Lee, Brian L. Gautam, Vasuk Herrington, Lauren Bains, William Darrow, Charles Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics We show that the nucleic acid bases adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine, and uracil, as well as 2,6-diaminopurine, and the “core” nucleic acid bases purine and pyrimidine, are stable for more than one year in concentrated sulfuric acid at room temperature and at acid concentrations relevant for Venus clouds (81% <i>w</i>/<i>w</i> to 98% <i>w</i>/<i>w</i> acid, the rest water). This work builds on our initial stability studies and is the first ever to test the reactivity and structural integrity of organic molecules subjected to extended incubation in concentrated sulfuric acid. The one-year-long stability of nucleic acid bases supports the notion that the Venus cloud environment—composed of concentrated sulfuric acid—may be able to support complex organic chemicals for extended periods of time. 2024-05-24T19:03:42Z 2024-05-24T19:03:42Z 2024-04-23 2024-05-24T13:04:45Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2075-1729 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/155070 Seager, S.; Petkowski, J.J.; Seager, M.D.; Grimes, J.H., Jr.; Zinsli, Z.; Vollmer-Snarr, H.R.; Abd El-Rahman, M.K.; Wishart, D.S.; Lee, B.L.; Gautam, V.; et al. Year-Long Stability of Nucleic Acid Bases in Concentrated Sulfuric Acid: Implications for the Persistence of Organic Chemistry in Venus’ Clouds. Life 2024, 14, 538. PUBLISHER_CC 10.3390/life14050538 Life Creative Commons Attribution https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ application/pdf MDPI AG Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
| spellingShingle | Seager, Sara Petkowski, Janusz J. Seager, Maxwell D. Grimes, John H. Zinsli, Zachary Vollmer-Snarr, Heidi R. Abd El-Rahman, Mohamed K. Wishart, David S. Lee, Brian L. Gautam, Vasuk Herrington, Lauren Bains, William Darrow, Charles Year-Long Stability of Nucleic Acid Bases in Concentrated Sulfuric Acid: Implications for the Persistence of Organic Chemistry in Venus’ Clouds |
| title | Year-Long Stability of Nucleic Acid Bases in Concentrated Sulfuric Acid: Implications for the Persistence of Organic Chemistry in Venus’ Clouds |
| title_full | Year-Long Stability of Nucleic Acid Bases in Concentrated Sulfuric Acid: Implications for the Persistence of Organic Chemistry in Venus’ Clouds |
| title_fullStr | Year-Long Stability of Nucleic Acid Bases in Concentrated Sulfuric Acid: Implications for the Persistence of Organic Chemistry in Venus’ Clouds |
| title_full_unstemmed | Year-Long Stability of Nucleic Acid Bases in Concentrated Sulfuric Acid: Implications for the Persistence of Organic Chemistry in Venus’ Clouds |
| title_short | Year-Long Stability of Nucleic Acid Bases in Concentrated Sulfuric Acid: Implications for the Persistence of Organic Chemistry in Venus’ Clouds |
| title_sort | year long stability of nucleic acid bases in concentrated sulfuric acid implications for the persistence of organic chemistry in venus clouds |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/155070 |
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