Quantum chemical analysis for the formation of glycine in the interstellar medium

Glycine (C2H5NO2) was the first amino acid to be detected in space by the stardust space probe in Comet Wild2, and is used by living organisms to make proteins. We discuss three different reaction paths for the formation of glycine in interstellar space from some simpler molecules detected in the interstellar medium. The possibility of the formation of glycine in interstellar space is considered by radical-radical and radical-molecule interaction schemes using quantum chemical calculations with density functional theory at the B3LYP/6-31G (d,p) level. In the chemical pathways we discuss, a few reactions are found to be totally exothermic and barrierless while others are endothermic with a very small reaction barrier, thus giving rise to a high probability of forming glycine in interstellar space.