Ab initio calculations of 6-and 7-carbon meteoritic amino acids and their diastereomers

To better explain the unusual distribution and relative abundances of several 6- and 7-carbon amino acids found in meteorites, their thermodynamic properties were studied using accurate ab initio techniques. In addition to optimized structures and relative energies, vibrational frequency and thermochemical analysis of different diastereomers were performed at temperatures relevant to conditions of synthesis of these amino acids in meteorites. The results of calculations were compared with the measured content of the amino acids in the Murchison meteorite. The distribution of several longer chain amino acids in meteorites seems to point to at least some thermodynamic control in their formation. For diastereomeric compounds, on the other hand, the comparison suggests that their synthetic conditions, or those of their precursors, were far from thermodynamic equilibrium.