Nicotinic acid (also known as niacin or vitamin B3) is a precursor to nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, a likely ancient molecule used in cellular metabolism in all of life.  Sources of nicotinic acid and related pyridine carboxylic acids may have included both abiotic synthesis on the primitive Earth (Cleaves and Miller, J Mol Evol, 52, 73-77) and exogenous delivery by meteorites (Pizzarello et al., Science, 293, 2236-2239).  We analyzed numerous carbonaceous chondrite meteorites and a laboratory-produced interstellar ice analog by liquid chromatography-high resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry, specifically targeting nicotinamide, three pyridine carboxylic acids, and five pyridine dicarboxylic acids.  This poster will present our latest results and discuss possible formation pathways and relevance to the origin of life.

Investigation of pyridine carboxylic acids in CM2 carbonaceous chondrites: Potential precursor molecules for ancient coenzymes

248th National Meeting (2014)

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