Definition
Cyanomethanimine is an organic molecule that is a less saturated relative of aminoacetonitrile (glycine nitrile, NH2CH2CN). It has three isomers, N-, E-, and Z-cyanomethanimine. Cyanomethanimine has been proposed as an intermediary in the prebiotic synthesis of the purine nucleobase adenine.
History
E-Cyanomethanimine has recently been detected by radio astronomers in the interstellar medium (Zaleski et al. 2013).
References and Further Reading
Zaleski DP, Seifert NA, Steber AL, Muckle MT, Loomis RA, Corby JF, Martinez O, Crabtree KN, Jewell PR, Hollis JM, Lovas FJ, Vasquez D, Nyiramahirwe J, Sciortino N, Johnson K, McCarthy MC, Remijan AJ, Pate BH (2013) Detection of E-cyanomethanimine toward Sagittarius B2(N) in the green bank telescope PRIMOS survey. Astrophys J 765:L10–L15
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Irvine, W.M. (2014). Cyanomethanimine. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_5080-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_5080-2
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4
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Cyanomethanimine- Published:
- 04 May 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_5080-3
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Cyanomethanimine- Published:
- 24 April 2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_5080-2