Prebiotic chemistry in neutral/reduced-alkaline gas-liquid interfaces

Elementary Reactions and Their Role in Gas-Phase Prebiotic Chemistry

The formation of complex organic molecules in a reactor filled with gaseous mixtures possibly reproducing the primitive terrestrial atmosphere and ocean demonstrated more than 50 years ago that inorganic synthesis of prebiotic molecules is possible, provided that some form of energy is provided to the system. After that groundbreaking experiment, gas-phase prebiotic molecules have been observed...

Interfacial Rheology of Gas/Liquid and Liquid/Liquid Interfaces

An interfacial shear rheometer for stressand strain-controlled measurements at liquid interfaces is outlined. Experimental data are reported for the surfactant sorbitan tristearate on κ-carrageenan subphases. A setup combining interfacial rheometry with Brewster-angle Microscopy for realtime imaging of the interface is presented. INTRODUCTION Dynamic processes involving deformable fluid interfa...

Prebiotic chemistry themed issue

Gas enrichment at liquid-wall interfaces.

Molecular dynamics simulations of Lennard-Jones systems are performed to study the effects of dissolved gas on liquid-wall and liquid-gas interfaces. Gas enrichment at walls, which for hydrophobic walls can exceed more than 2 orders of magnitude when compared to the gas density in the bulk liquid, is observed. As a consequence, the liquid structure close to the wall is considerably modified, le...

The Future of Prebiotic Chemistry

Here is a puzzle: in what area of organic synthesis research are synthetic organic chemists a minority? According to Albert Eschenmoser, it is in the field of prebiotic chemistry: the study of the reactions and molecules that led to the emergence of life on earth. Biologists, mathematicians, and astronomers have traditionally weighed in on this problem proportionally more than organic chemists....