Products in the Irradiation with UV Light at 185 nm of Hydrocarbon-Ammonia-Water Vapor Systems

Abstract

Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the amino acids, formed when the hydrocarbon (methane, ethane, ethylene, acetylene) -ammonia-water vapor systems were submi tted to the irradiation with UV light at 185 nm, were investigated. In addition, hydrocarbon-water vapor, hydrocarbon-ammonia, acetaldehyde-ammonia-water vapor, and ethanol-ammonia-water vapor systems were studied. In the hydrocarbon-water vapor systems, many kinds of alcohols and aldehydes were synthesized.
Aldehydes, pre cusors of amino acids and sugars, were found much more in the acetylene-water vapor system than in other systems. The hydrocarbon-ammonia systems, gave quite similar products in kinds of nitriles and amines, even if any of the above hydrocarbons was chosen as a starting material. In the hydrocarbon-ammonia-water vapor systems, twelve amino acids were identified, including two protein amino acids with a hydroxyl group, serine and threonine. In the C₂ hydrocarbon-ammonia-water vapor systems, total yields of amino acids increased in the order of acetylene, ethylene, and ethane. The yield of amino acids increased with an increase of the initial concentration of ammonia and became maximum when the initial concentration of ammonia was equal to that of acetylene.