Summary
A suite of sixteen monocarboxylic acids having carbon numbers 2 to 7, formed by the Miller-Urey spark discharge process, were identified and quantified by gas chromatography and mass fragmentography using a deuterium spiking technique. The molar concentration and isomeric distribution of these laboratory synthesized monocarboxylic acids are compared to those previously reported for the Murchison meteorite. They show similar trends, namely, decreasing molar concentration with increasing molecular weight, and, the ratio of normal/branched isomers tend toward smaller with increasing carbon numbers.
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Yuen, G.U., Lawless, J.G. & Edelson, E.H. Quantification of monocarboxylic acids from a spark discharge synthesis. J Mol Evol 17, 43–47 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01792423
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01792423