Basic nitrogen-heterocyclic compounds in the Murchison meteorite

A fragment of the Murchison (C2) carbonaceous meteorite was analyzed for basic, $\text{N-}\text{heterocyclic}$ compounds, by dual detector capillary gas chromatography as well as capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, using two columns of different polarity. In the formic acid extract 2,4,6-trimethylpyridine, quinoline, isoquinoline, 2-methylquinoline and 4-methylquinoline were positively identified. In addition, a suite of alkylpyridines and quinolines and/or isoquinolines was tentatively identified from their mass spectra. The (iso)quinolines were found to contain methyl substituents exclusively. The distribution of the pyridines observed reveals a similarity to that observed from catalytic reactions of ammonia and simple aldehydes under conditions similar to those applied in Fischer-Tropsch type reactions.