Computational kinetic studies reveal the water corrosion of meteoritic schreibersite (Fe2NiP) to phosphorus-oxygen compounds, a key prebiotic process, can occur on a scale of a few hours at 350 K.

According to quantum mechanical simulations, the less reactive (120) and (101) surfaces of the cosmic silicate forsterite effectively catalyze the formation of prebiotic iminoacetonitrile from hydrogen cyanide by enabling its deprotonation while still allowing reactant diffusion.

Chondritic meteorites, as analogs for early Solar System dust, can catalytically reduce FeS to H₂S and metallic Fe under hydrogen-rich atmospheres, with implications for early planetary chemistry.

Through density functional theory calculations, the mineral Schreibersite from meteorites can thermodynamically and kinetically promote the deprotonation of methanol and water, leading to its own corrosion and the formation of prebiotically significant phosphate and methyl phosphate.

Infrared spectra of HCN/forsterite interfaces are deconvoluted by means of nonlinear best fits between experimental and computed spectra. This synergistic approach allows a reliable spectroscopic interpretation of gas-surface systems as a powerful tool to study heterogeneous catalysis and grain-surface astrochemistry.

In the extreme conditions of the interstellar medium, cosmic FeS surfaces act as unexpected chemical catalysts, driving the elusive synthesis of methanol and shedding light on its mysterious abundance across the cosmos.

Here is the second chapter of true catalysis in space! Simulations indicate that ethanol and FT by-products can form through Fischer-Tropsch synthesis in astrophysical environments by single atom Fe on silica. Fundamental and aplied knowledge at once!

Pure sulfur is known to form several allotropes, which have lately been proposed as possible sulfur reservoir in cold clouds, where gas-phase sulfur depletion is observed. Indeed, larger species show stronger interactions with the water ice mantles of dust grains. However, their spectroscopic features are more suitable to their detection in terrestrial laboratories rather than in the interstellar medium.

The binding energies of 21 N-bearing interstellar species on water ice surfaces have been computed to understand how these species are trapped in ices and their faith in protoplanetary disks by comparing the values with the water snow line

Computations on the binding energy of H2S on interstellar water ices allow us to understand why H2S is not found as an icy species and yes as a gaseous one. The reason? The weak H2S/H2O ice interactions between the two partners!