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Radiolysis of succinic acid and its ammonium salt in aqueous solution: relevance in chemical evolution

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Abstract

This research aims to contribute in determining the stability of ammonium succinate and succinic acid in an oxygen-free aqueous medium and exposed to a high radiation field. Both molecules are readily formed in prebiotic experiments and are essential in chemical evolution processes as starting materials for more complex molecules’ formation. Several products were detected, including some N-containing compounds in the ammonium salt experiments. Their formation can be explained via the attack of water radiolysis products. Abstraction and dimerization reactions were the most important in these systems. The decomposition increased with the irradiation dose, giving rise to biologically compounds relevant for chemical evolution processes.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by PAPIIT grant IN111116. We thank Chem. Claudia Camargo, M. Sc. Benjamín, Phys. Francisco Flores, and Martín Cruz Villafañe for their technical assistance. We thank to M. Sc. J. Cruz for helping us with the drawings. The present work has totally been carried out in the Laboratory of Chemical Evolution at ICN-UNAM. Special thank to the valuable suggestions of the reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior, C.U., 04510, CDMX, Mexico

    Alicia Negrón-Mendoza & Sergio Ramos-Bernal

  2. Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior, C.U., 04510, CDMX, Mexico

    María Colín-García

Authors
  1. Alicia Negrón-Mendoza
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  2. María Colín-García
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  3. Sergio Ramos-Bernal
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Correspondence to Alicia Negrón-Mendoza.

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Negrón-Mendoza, A., Colín-García, M. & Ramos-Bernal, S. Radiolysis of succinic acid and its ammonium salt in aqueous solution: relevance in chemical evolution. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 318, 2279–2284 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-6197-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-6197-2

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