Photochemical Synthesis of Ammonia and Amino Acids from Nitrous Oxide.

Abiotic synthesis of ammonia (NH 3 ) and amino acids is important for the origin of life and early evolution. Ammonia and organic nitrogen species may be produced from nitrous oxide (N 2 O), which is a second abundant nitrogen species in the atmosphere. Here, we report a new photochemical experiment and evaluate whether N 2 O can be used as a nitrogen source for prebiotic synthesis in the atmosphere. We conducted a series of experiments by using a gas mixture of N 2 O+CO, N 2 O+CO 2 , or N 2 O + H 2 in the presence of liquid water. The results demonstrate that NH 3 , methylamine (CH 3 NH 2 ), and some amino acids such as glycine, alanine, and serine can be synthesized through photochemistry from N 2 O even without metal catalysts. NH 3 can be produced not only from CO + N 2 O, but also from H 2 +N 2 O. Glycine can be synthesized from CH 3 NH 2 and CO 2 , which can be produced from N 2 O and CO under ultraviolet irradiation. Our work demonstrates, for the first time, that N 2 O could be an important nitrogen source and provide a new process for synthesizing ammonia and organic nitrogen species, which has not been previously considered. The contribution of organic synthesis from N 2 O should, therefore, be considered when discussing the prebiotic chemistry on primitive Earth.