Presentation Information
[PPS03-P19]Enantiomeric separation of meteoritic amino acids from small sample sizes via UHPLC-OT-MS.
*Christian Potiszil1, Maya Hamaguchi1, Tsutomu Ota1, Masahiro Yamanaka1, Ryoji Tanaka1 (1.Institute for Planetary Materials, Okayama University)
Keywords:
Meteorites,Asteroids,Amino Acids,Sample Return,Orbitrap,Organic Matter
Sample return missions to primitive C-type asteroids, such as Ryugu, allow for the obtainment of near pristine organic bearing materials [1-2]. However, such missions return a limited amount of sample and thus high sensitivity analyses are essential in order to gain as much knowledge from a given returned sample. The organic matter found within such samples is important, because it records a number of key environments and their associated processes [2]. These environments and processes include those from before the formation of the planetesimal progenitor bodies of asteroids (pre-accretionary processes e.g. interstellar environments, protosolar nebula and protoplanetary disk environments), and all those that came after their formation (post-accretionary processes e.g. planetesimal accretion, aqueous alteration, impact events and continuous UV, solar wind and cosmic ray irradiation). Amino acids in particular have been found to record both pre- and post-accretionary processes and thus they represent important molecules for those who wish to understand the formation and evolution of our solar system [1, 3-4]. Furthermore, amino acids are building blocks of life and would have been essential for the origin of life on Earth. Therefore, understanding whether extraterrestrial materials could have supplied these molecules at the origin of life on Earth is essential for elucidating our understanding of how and where life can form within our Solar system and beyond.
Here we report a novel analytical method for the enantiomeric separation and quantification of complex mixtures of free amino acids from meteorites. The approach utilizes a very small sample size of ~6 mg and enables the separation of both structural isomers and enantiomers. Thus, the approach allows for the determination of structural isomer and enantiomeric ratios, which can shed light on the processes that the amino acids and thus soluble organic matter in meteorites have experienced.
Overall, this study helps to constrain the quantities of amino acids that may have been delivered to early Earth and the effects of the different processes that have been recorded by the extraterrestrial organic matter found within meteorite samples. The developed analytical method will be particularly important for future investigation of returned samples.
[1] C. Potiszil et al., Life, 13(7), 1448 (2023).
[2] Nakamura et al., Proc. Jap. Acad., Ser. B. 98, 6, 227–282 (2022).
[3] Potiszil et al., Nat. Commun., 14, 1482 (2023).
[4] Potiszil et al., Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 653, 119205 (2025).
Here we report a novel analytical method for the enantiomeric separation and quantification of complex mixtures of free amino acids from meteorites. The approach utilizes a very small sample size of ~6 mg and enables the separation of both structural isomers and enantiomers. Thus, the approach allows for the determination of structural isomer and enantiomeric ratios, which can shed light on the processes that the amino acids and thus soluble organic matter in meteorites have experienced.
Overall, this study helps to constrain the quantities of amino acids that may have been delivered to early Earth and the effects of the different processes that have been recorded by the extraterrestrial organic matter found within meteorite samples. The developed analytical method will be particularly important for future investigation of returned samples.
[1] C. Potiszil et al., Life, 13(7), 1448 (2023).
[2] Nakamura et al., Proc. Jap. Acad., Ser. B. 98, 6, 227–282 (2022).
[3] Potiszil et al., Nat. Commun., 14, 1482 (2023).
[4] Potiszil et al., Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 653, 119205 (2025).