Amino Acid Formation from Aqueous Nitrile Solution by Radiation Emitted from 10B(n, α)7Li Reaction

摘要

Amino acid formation from HCN or CN- was first reported by Oro & Kamat(1). After that, the problem has been watched in regard to the origin of life, while Ogura et al. and others reported the problem related to radiations(2)(9). The radiations used by all these researchers were γ-rays emitted from 60Co radiation source. The author used 10B(n, α)7 Li reaction as an inner radiation source in order to apply a low thermal neutron radiation dose to radiation chemistry. On the application of the inner source to cyanide or thiocyanate solution, amino acid formation was confirmed(10)(12). This article is reporting on the application of this method to nitrile solution in order to see if any different reaction mechanisms occur and what sorts of amino acid are produced. Although some reports regarding nitrile irradiation were presented(13)(17) and also recognized some amino acid formation, these researches were carried out using 60Co γ-rays as a radiation source. Therefore, in the use of the particle rays, such as α-rays or 7Li recoil nuclei, different results are expected. In the present investigation, unlike 60Co γ-rays irradiation, CH3-CN bond cleavage and glycine formation were not seen, while alanine formation was most remarkable.