HYDROGEN CYANIDE IN THE MURCHISON METEORITE

Carbonaceous chondrites are meteorites that may contain abundant organic materials, including soluble compounds as diverse as amino acids and hydrocarbons. We report here the finding of hydrogen cyanide in the Murchison meteorite in amounts <= 10 ppm. HCN was never searched for in meteorites and its detection in sizeable amount is surprising in view of the extensive water phase that is recorded by the petrology of this type of meteorites and could have exhausted their HCN content through multiple reactions. The finding adds to the inventory of simple volatile molecules found in both comets and meteorites.