Despite the generally hostile nature of the environments involved, chemistry does occur in
space. Molecules are seen in environments that span a wide range of physical and chemical …

Carbonaceous chondrites are very primitive meteorites that are rich in carbon. They contain
many soluble organic compounds, including nitrogen heterocycles. These play a crucial role …

Evolved interstellar ices observed in dense protostellar molecular clouds may arguably be
considered as part of precometary materials that will later fall on primitive telluric planets …

Extraterrestrial habitability is a complex notion. We briefly review what is known about the
origin of life on Earth, that is, life based on carbon chemistry and water. We then discuss …

The detection of complex organic molecules (COMs) toward dense, collapsing prestellar
cores has sparked interest in the fields of astrochemistry and astrobiology, yet the …

The discovery of meteoritic amino acids with enantiomeric excesses of the l-form (ee L) has
suggested that extraterrestrial organic materials may have contributed to prebiotic chemistry …

Sugars and their derivatives are essential to all terrestrial life. Their presence in meteorites,
together with amino acids, nucleobases, amphiphiles, and other compounds of biological …

Studying the chemical composition of organic matter in astrophysical environments is an
important means to improve our understanding of its origin and evolution. This organic …

Although not yet identified in the interstellar medium (ISM), N-heterocycles including
nucleobases—the information subunits of DNA and RNA—are present in carbonaceous …

The origin of nucleobases and other heterocycles is a classic question in the chemistry of
the origins of life. The construction of laboratory models for the abiotic synthesis of nitrogen …