Overview
- An international team from Heriot-Watt University, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, and the University of Virginia reports the findings in The Astrophysical Journal.
- “Dusty sandwich” experiments layered carbon dioxide and ammonia around porous silicate grains to mimic interstellar material.
- Samples frozen to about −260°C and warmed to roughly −190°C produced ammonium carbamate efficiently only when the dust layer was present.
- The team identifies acid–base proton-transfer catalysis on dust surfaces as the mechanism, marking the first such observation under simulated space conditions.
- Ammonium carbamate is viewed as a precursor to urea and other biologically relevant molecules, and researchers will now test additional species and seek evidence in protoplanetary disks.