Chemical environments of young planets are assumed to be significantly influenced by impacts of bodies lingering after the dissolution of the protoplanetary disk. We explore the chemical consequences of impacts of these bodies under reducing planetary atmospheres dominated by carbon monoxide, methane, and molecular nitrogen. Impacts were simulated by using a terawatt high-power laser system. Our experimental results show that one-pot impact-plasma-initiated synthesis of all the RNA canonical nucleobases and the simplest amino acid glycine is possible in this type of atmosphere in the presence of montmorillonite. This one-pot synthesis begins with de novo formation of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and proceeds through intermediates such as cyanoacetylene and urea.

Cavendish Astrophysics University of Cambridge Cambridge United Kingdom

Department of Earth Sciences University of Cambridge Cambridge United Kingdom

Department of Radiation and Chemical Physics Institute of Physics Czech Academy of Sciences Prague Czech Republic

Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering Czech Technical University Prague Prague Czech Republic

Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Prague Czech Republic

Institute for Physical Chemical Processes National Research Council Messina Italy

Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences Brno Czech Republic

Institute of Plasma Physics Czech Academy of Sciences Prague Czech Republic

J Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences Prague Czech Republic

MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology Cambridge United Kingdom

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