Chemical footprint of the solvent soluble extraterrestrial organic matter occluded in Sołtmany ordinary chondrite

By characterizing organic molecules of extra-terrestrial origin included in the Sołtmany meteorite, we also present the first results of the non-targeted chemical analysis of the methanol soluble organic matter present in an L6 ordinary chondrite. The structural characterization by means of ultrahigh resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) with electrospray ionization (ESI) in negative and positive modes demonstrated an unexpected and astonishing chemical diversity with several thousand mass peaks that could be converted into C, H, N, O, S, and P elemental compositions. Molecular signatures were typically those of considerably oxygenated CHO and CHOS molecular series of primarily aliphatic character. 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy confirmed the prevalent existence of pure and functionalized aliphatic spin systems of intermediate chain length (C3-4 units), oxygenated aliphatics and a considerable diversity of oxygenated aromatics in the proton-based abundance ratio near 24 : 2 : 1. Although only residual organic matter allegedly survives in highly thermally altered L6 chondrites, the physical protection of organic matter in microcavities and traps between mineral surfaces might have supported and governed the chemistry with an apparent recalcitrance of extraterrestrial organic matter (EOM). Future studies of the organic matter in ordinary chondrites and its composition and structure in various regimes of (e.g.) temperature, radiation, pressure, and water content could shed light on these meteorites’ formation and evolution.