Andrew Turner / University of Hawaii
The researchers were able to synthesize the metaneterol by replicating in the laboratory conditions of the interstellar space.
Scientists at the University of Hawaiiʻi in Mānoa reached a significant milestone in synthesizing, for the first time, a molecule once considered theoretical: The metanetetrol.
This molecule, extremely unstable under terrestrial conditions, was produced in the laboratory by replicating conditions similar to those of interstellar space, namely gelid temperatures and extremely low pressures.
O Metinetrol is a unique alcoholthe only one known with four hydroxylo groups (OH) linked to a single carbon atom. Although its theoretical existence was suggested over a century ago, this is the first time the molecule has been effectively observed. The team used intense radiation and simulations of spatial environments, such as interstellar dust clouds where stars and planets are born, to recreate the conditions conducive to their formation.
O, published in Nature Communications, resorted to vacuum ultraviolet light to detect tiny amounts of metaintrol, formed from water and carbon dioxide. Chemical reactions were triggered by high energy particles, similar to cosmic raysleading to formation not only of the metanetetrol, but also of related compounds, the.
Ralf I. Kaiser, from the Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaiiʻi, underlines the importance of work: “This study expands the boundaries of what we know about chemistry in space. It shows that the universe is much more chemically dynamic than we thought.”
Although metanetetrol does not naturally exist on Earth, due to its extreme instability in normal conditions, its formation in space environments suggests that the colder and darkest regions of the universe may be Unexpected chemical complexity cribs. The discovery reinforces the hypothesis that the fundamental blocks of life may arise even in remote and inhospitable places.
