Conspectus This Account presents recent advances in our understanding on the formation
pathways of complex organic molecules (COMs) within interstellar analog ices on ice-coated …

Context. Many molecules observed in the interstellar medium are thought to result from the
thermal desorption of ices. Parameters such as the desorption energy and pre-exponential …

Reactions in interstellar ices are shown to be capable of producing key prebiotic molecules
without energetic radiation that are necessary for the origins of life. When present in …

Amines—organic molecules carrying the–NH 2 moiety—have been recognized as a vital
intermediate in the formation of prebiotic molecules such as amino acids and nucleobases …

Pyruvic acid represents a key molecule in prebiotic chemistry to form metabolites and amino
acids. Without liquid water on the early Earth, endogenous formation of pyruvic acid is …

Recently, over 200 molecules have been detected in the interstellar medium (ISM), with
about one third being complex organic molecules (COMs), molecules containing six or more …

Ion transport is vital to all modern lifeforms, but how early cells could have accomplished this
without complex proteins that are used by modern cells has remained elusive. Here, we …

The formation of isomers of C 2 H 2 O—ketene (H 2 CCO), ethynol (HCCOH), and oxirene (c-
CHCHO)—was investigated in interstellar ice analogs composed of carbon monoxide and …

Abstract Glycinal (HCOCH2NH2) and acetamide (CH3CONH2) are simple molecular
building blocks of biomolecules in prebiotic chemistry, though their origin on early Earth and …

Because of their nucleophilic character and high reactivity, enols─ reaction intermediates
carrying a hydroxyl group connected to a carbon–carbon double bond─ play a key role in …