Researchers have published a review of attempts to document sugars and their derivatives in carbonaceous meteorites, from the 1960s to the present day. The review covers the analytical methods and results for each study, and is used to examine recent findings of sugar derivatives identified in meteorites. The team includes a discussion of how these derivatives may have been synthesized, presenting a scenario that involves interstellar irradiation and/or cold grain chemistry in the synthesis of extraterrestrial glycerol (a sugar alcohol). They also suggest that that an observed enantiomeric excess of sugar derivatives (by which one ‘mirror image’ of the molecule is more prevalent) originated in the early solar disk of our solar system.

By studying carbonaceous meteorites, scientists are able to get a glimpse into the processes of the early Solar System. This information is important in understanding how our system evolved through time, and ultimately the formation and evolution of the planets.

The study, “Monosaccharides and Their Derivatives in Carbonaceous Meteorites: A Scenario for Their Synthesis and Onset of Enantiomeric Excesses,” was published in the journal Life. The work was supported by NASA Astrobiology through the Exobiology Program.