An Interstellar Synthesis of Glycerol Phosphates

Glycerol phosphates define key molecules pertaining to the Origin of Life question and represent the essential stereo-dictating unit of phospholipids that may self-assemble in aqueous media into prebiotic cell membranes. However, the prebiotic formation pathways to glycerol phosphate have remained elusive to date. In this Letter, we expose a facile pathway toward the abiotic synthesis of glycerol phosphate isomers in phosphine (PH3) doped interstellar analog ices of methanol (CH3OH), carbon dioxide (CO2), or water (H2O) upon exposure to energetic electrons as a proxy of secondary electrons generated by the penetration of Galactic cosmic rays into interstellar ices at 10 K. The synthetic routes proposed here overcome obstacles of terrestrial-based scenarios that are inhibited by the low solubility of phosphates in water and the unfavorable nature of phosphorylation reactions in aqueous solution, thus revealing a potential pathway to prebiotic glycerol phosphates. Unified Astronomy Thesaurus concepts: Pre-biotic astrochemistry (2079); Astrochemistry (75); Laboratory astrophysics (2004); Interstellar medium (847); Astrobiology (74)