Cosmochemical/Space Petroleomics and Meteoritic Metallopetroleomics as Novel Approaches for Meteorite Genesis Studies, Evolutionary Organic Astrochemistry and Prebiological Chemical Evolution Reconstruction
Gradov OV*
FRC CP RAS, Senior Researcher, Russia
*Corresponding author:Gradov OV, FRC CP RAS, Senior Researcher, Russia
Submission:
November 25, 2024;Published: January 10, 2025
This Letter emphasizes the interconnection between terrestrial and extraterrestrial petroleomics and highlights the potential for using advanced analytical techniques to explore fundamental questions about the origins of life and composition of cosmic materials. The terms “cosmochemical petroleomics”, “cosmochemical metallopetroleomics” (or, equivalently, “astrochemical petroleomics”, “astrochemical metallopetroleomics”), “meteoritic petroleomics”, “meteoritic metallopetroleomics”, “space petroleomics” and “space metalloproteomics” have been introduced. The tools and methods used in terrestrial petroleomics, such as ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry (including FT-ICR MS and Orbitrap), are equally applicable to astrochemical and cosmochemical studies. The aggregation of PAHs into larger structures (referred to as “islands” or “archipelagos”) may have played a vital role in the “PAH world” or “aromatic world” scenario at different stages of chemical evolution and can be compared to biomolecular/prebiological self-assembly processes. Asphaltenes are known to be frequently produced during various abiotic syntheses, including early versions of the Miller-Urey experiment and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and might have participate in the “messy chemistry” processes at the earliest stages of prebiological chemical evolution of organic matter.
Keywords:Asphaltenes; PAHs; FT-ICR MS; Orbitrap; Petroleomics; Cosmochemical petroleomics; Cosmochemical metallopetroleomics; Astrochemical petroleomics; Astrochemical metallopetroleomics; Meteoritic petroleomics; Meteoritic metallopetroleomics; Space petroleomics; Space metalloproteomics; Redox-petroleomics; Aromatic world; PAH world
It is well known that hydrocarbons (both aliphatic [1-3] and aromatic [4,5] ones) are frequently found in meteoritic samples. The most known examples are: hydrocarbons (predominantly aromatic ones) in the Murchison meteorite [4-7] (usually together with abiogenic amines and amino-acids [5-7], monocarboxylic acids [8-10]), hydrocarbons in Orgueil meteorite (comparable with the terrestrial hydrocarbon samples [11]). In many meteorites (such as Pavel and Goumoshnik) not only normal but also isoprenoid hydrocarbons can be found [12,13]. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) were also detected in Murchison [14-18] and Allende [19] meteorites, Antarctic carbonaceous chondrites [16,20], Martian meteorites [21-24] and asteroids (such as Ryugu [25]). Amino acids and hydrocarbons were found in the Paris meteorite, the most primitive CM chondrite [26-28]. It is of great interest for the origin of life studies (and panspermia hypothesis refutation) that all the above hydrocarbons and their derivatives are of almost abiogenic origin [29,30]. It is noteworthy that to date many
different schemes have been proposed to explain the hydrocarbon
genesis in meteoritic samples, including those with the meteorite
hydrocarbon formation upon thermal decomposition of siderite
(FeCO3) [31] which has also been proposed as a possible way of
abiogenic formation of hydrocarbons and oxygenated compounds
in prebiotic conditions of the early Earth [32].The presence of PAHs
in meteorites is consistent with the “PAH world” hypothesis in
the origin of life studies [33-35] and with the photobiochemically
relevant hypothesis on the role of archetypal melanin-like PAHs
from the insoluble organic matter in chondrites in the origin of life
[36-41] (which in turn correlates well with the “messy chemistry”
concept [42-46]). In the meteoritic hydrocarbon matter not only
“abiogenic episemantides” (the term of Pauling L et al. [47]) can be
found, but also “abiogenic semantide” precursors and components,
such as purines and pyrimidines-the most important building
blocks for genetic code carriers and bioenergetics [48]).
PAHs themselves (and other hydrocarbon molecules in
meteorites similar to those found in bituminous coals and oil
shale [18]) are classical objects of petroleomics studies [49-53].
Asphaltenes (as a general object of petroleomics [54-58]) are
frequently detectable products in different abiotic syntheses (from
the unseparable products of the early Miller-Urey experiments to
the Fisher-Tropsch wax [59-63]). Their aggregates (also the wellknown
key objects of petroleomics studies [64]) might have been the
fundamental actors in the “PAH world” / “aromatic world” chemical
evolution processes at different stages and spatial localizations
[65-79]. Molecular orbital calculations and optical transitions in
PAHs and asphaltenes are well studied and can be added to the
petroleomics data as complementary descriptors [80-83]. Several
prerequisites for “NMR petroleomics” of PAHs in asphaltenes are
also developed [84,85]. The influence of the asphaltene matrix
on the thermal evolution of PAHs is experimentally proved and
well correlates with the geochemical conditions of the asphaltene
genesis [86]. It is well known that “islands” or “archipelagos” in
asphaltenes can be formed through the PAH dimer formation and
high-level aggregation (in fused polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
as model asphaltene compounds aggregation is usually simulated
with dispersion interactions) [87,88]. Similar aggregation effects
can be detected in biomolecular and protobiological systems
and their models, so it is possible to draw the line between
prebiological aggregation during chemical evolution within the
“PAH world” or “aromatic world” and biomolecular self-assembly
of amphiphilic molecules at early protobiological evolution stages.
The role of metals in prebiological system formation in the “PAH
world” (including photosensitive and catalytically active metal
complex formation) can also be described within the framework
of cosmochemical petroleomics and petroleomics of Fe-enriched
meteorites or carbonaceous chondrites. This research trend is
known as “metallopetroleomics” [89,90] (and for the possible
redox-metabolism model studies-”redox-petroleomics” [91]).
Due to the similarity between the objects studied, the main
instrumental tools and methods applied for terrestrial petroleomics
[92-94] and its astrochemical/cosmochemical/meteoritic analog
must be equal. It is well known that the most suitable instrumental
tool for on-Earth petroleomics is ultrahigh-resolution mass
spectrometry [95-97], such as FT-ICR MS [98-107] (invented by
Melvin B. Comisarow and Alan G. Marshall at the University of
British Columbia; Alan G. Marshall is also a founder of petroleomics
and the term “petroleomics” itself) and Orbitrap [108-110]. Real
time-mass spectrometry technique can also be used for these
purposes [111]. Data processing pipelines and data interpretation
methods for conventional petroleomics are well developed
and customized for Web applications, laboratory information
systems and database-assisted computational search resources
[112-114], so cosmochemical/astrochemical petroleomics and
metallopetroleomics research can be easily implemented by many
scientists and amateurs interested in the origin of life, chemical
evolution and composition of the cosmic matter.
The author of this article has no relation to the Russian oil
and gas industry and has never been working in this sanctioned
area. The experience of working with petrochemicals and the pool
of ideas expressed in this article were developed by him during
his affiliation at the mass spectrometric center of the Russian
Academy of Sciences and earlier (2010) in the Laboratory of
Carbon Geochemistry of Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and
Analytical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
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Professor, Chief Doctor, Director of Department of Pediatric Surgery, Associate Director of Department of Surgery, Doctoral Supervisor Tongji hospital, Tongji medical college, Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Senior Research Engineer and Professor, Center for Refining and Petrochemicals, Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Interim Dean, College of Education and Health Sciences, Director of Biomechanics Laboratory, Sport Science Innovation Program, Bridgewater State University