Astrochemistry and Astrobiology is the debut volume in the new series Physical Chemistry in Action. Aimed at both the novice and experienced researcher, this volume outlines the physico-chemical principles which underpin our attempts to understand astrochemistry and predict astrobiology. An introductory chapter includes fundamental aspects of physical chemistry required for understanding the field. Eight further chapters address specific topics, encompassing basic theory and models, up-to-date research and an outlook on future work. The last chapter examines each of the topics again but addressed from a different angle. Written and edited by international experts, this text is accessible for those entering the field of astrochemistry and astrobiology, while it still remains interesting for more experienced researchers.

The role of laboratory research and simulations in advancing our understanding of solar system ices (including satellites, KBOs, comets, and giant planets) is becoming increasingly important. Understanding ice surface radiation processing, particle and radiation penetration depths, surface and subsurface chemistry, morphology, phases, density, conductivity, etc., are only a few examples of the inventory of issues that are being addressed by Earth-based laboratory research. As a response to the growing need for cross-disciplinary dialog and communication in the Planetary Ices science community, this book aims to achieve direct dialog and foster focused collaborations among the observational, modeling, and laboratory research communities.

Studies of free radicals on surfaces are of interest for several reasons: the spontaneous or stimulated formation of radicals from adsorbed molecules may represent one possible mechanism for heterogeneous catalysis. In some cases the radicals are ionic, indicating that primary oxidation and reduction reactions occur. Radicals can also be used as probes to investigate diffusion processes on catalytic surfaces. The first direct observations were made more than 30 years ago, but detailed studies of structure, reactions and mobility have only recently become feasible with the advent of powerful spectroscopic techniques, to a great extent developed and used by the contributors to this volume. This comprehensive review describes new trends in the field. Leading experts write about the nature of surface active sites, methods to identify them, and the radicals formed from adsorbed molecules interacting with the surface. The emphasis is on the fundamentals covering thermal, photostimulated and radiation induced reactions as well as diffusion processes. This provides the necessary background for technological applications. This book will be useful to those who are interested in surface chemistry, heterogeneous catalysis as well as those who want to study reactive intermediates in chemical reactions. It is also of interest to scientists in photo and radiation physics and chemistry.

Early History of the Recognition of Molecular Biochirality, by Joseph Gal, Pedro Cintas Synthesis and Chirality of Amino Acids Under Interstellar Conditions, by Chaitanya Giri, Fred Goesmann, Cornelia Meinert, Amanda C. Evans, Uwe J. Meierhenrich Chemical and Physical Models for the Emergence of Biological Homochirality, by son E. Hein, Dragos Gherase, Donna G. Blackmond Biomolecules at Interfaces: Chiral, Naturally, by Arántzazu González-Campo and David B. Amabilino Stochastic Mirror Symmetry Breaking: Theoretical Models and Simulation of Experiments, by Celia Blanco, David Hochberg Self-Assembly of Dendritic Dipeptides as a Model of Chiral Selection in Primitive Biological Systems, by Brad M. Rosen, Cécile Roche, Virgil Percec Chirality and Protein Biosynthesis, by Sindrila Dutta Banik, Nilashis Nandi

The first comprehensive overview of planet formation for students and researchers in astronomy, cosmochemistry, laboratory astrophysics and planetary sciences.

Studying the origin of life is one of man’s greatest achievements over the last sixty years. The fields of interest encompassed by this quest are multiple and interdisciplinary: chemistry, physics, biology, biochemistry, mathematics, geology but also statistics, atmospheric science, meteorology, oceanography, and astrophysics. Recent scientific discoveries, such as water on Mars and the existence of super-Earths with atmospheres similar to primordial Earth, have pushed researchers to simulate prebiotic conditions in explaining the abiotic formation of molecules essential to life. This collection of articles offers an overview of recent discoveries in the field of prebiotic chemistry of biomolecules, their formation and selection, and the evolution of complex chemical systems.

Written by leading scientists in the field and intended for a broader readership, this is an ideal starting point for an overview of current research and developments. As such, the book covers a broad spectrum of laboratory astrophysics and chemistry, describing recent advances in experiments, as well as theoretical work, including fundamental physics and modeling chemical networks. For researchers as well as students and newcomers to the field.