In 1988, the “Iron-Sulfide World” hypothesis of the chemical origin of life was advanced as a competitor to the more familiar “Primordial Soup” hypothesis. In the former proposition, prebiotic reactions (such as the condensation of amino acids) are catalyzed by iron-sulfur minerals. Since then it has been shown that pyrite, FeS<sub>2</sub>, can serve as a catalyst for the formation of biomolecules in aqueous solution. In this study, we examine whether gas-phase formamide–a molecule common in astrochemistry and the smallest molecule with a peptide bond–will undergo reactions with pyrite similar to those observed in solution. Powdered FeS<sub>2</sub> was reacted with gas-phase formamide under high-vacuum conditions; surface-bound products were detected using diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy while gas phase products were detected using mass spectrometry. Product identity, their time evolution, and possible mechanisms will be discussed.

Investigation of the reaction of formamide on pyrite

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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