Thermodynamics of formation of nitrogen bases and d-ribose from mineral substances in light of the problem of origination of simplest elements of living matter

The paper represents a further development of our hydrate hypothesis of simplest living matter origination (SLMO) from inorganic and simplest organic mineral substances. It is supposed that the sources of SLMO are simplest aliphatic hydrocarbons, niters, and phosphates. Thermodynamic calculations demonstrating a principal possibility for simultaneous syntheses of different nitrogen bases, d-ribose, and desoxy-d-ribose from these source substances are presented. The most probable principal mechanism of SLMO and the principal conditions necessary for realization of the proposed chemism of SLMO in the framework of the proposed mechanism are considered. A principal means for testing the hypothesis is proposed.     

An adsorption and calorimetric study of the interaction of hydrogen with chromium oxide

The chemisorption of hydrogen on porous chromium oxide was studied at temperatures up to 723 K under the conditions of controlled oxygen, hydrogen, and water contents in the samples. The molar heats of chemisorption were measured at temperatures up to 473 K. Hydrogen was found to be chemisorbed (310 kJ/mol) in the form of water and absorbed into oxide volume (165 kJ/mol) in the form of coordination bound atoms. Changes in the molar heat of the processes during chemisorption were caused by changes in the ratio between chemisorption and sorption. The phenomena observed and quantitative results could be explained by simple Langmuir concepts without assumptions of surface heterogeneity.     

Secondary ion yields produced by keV atomic and polyatomic ion impacts on a self-assembled monolayer surface

A suite of keV polyatomic or 'cluster' projectiles was used to bombard unoxidized and oxidized self-assembled monolayer surfaces. Negative secondary ion yields, collected at the limit of single ion impacts, were measured and compared for both molecular and fragment ions. In contrast to targets that are orders of magnitude thicker than the penetration range of the primary ions, secondary ion yields from polyatomic projectile impacts on self-assembled monolayers show little to no enhancement when compared with monatomic projectiles at the same velocity. This unusual trend is most likely due to the structural arrangement and bonding characteristics of the monolayer molecules with the Au(111). Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.