Grégoire DANGER, University Professor in the ASTRO team of the Laboratory of Physics of Ionic and Molecular Interactions of the University of Aix-Marseille/CNRS UMR 7345

My research program focuses on the evolution of organic matter, from its formation within dense molecular clouds and its evolution during the formation of a planetary system such as the Solar System, to the conditions that allowed the emergence of biochemical systems on Earth. While the formation of organic matter can be considered universal, the presence of living systems appears to be much more limited. The chemical evolution that led to the emergence of such particular systems seems to have occurred only on planet Earth. The objective of my research is therefore to experimentally study the evolution of organic matter in different astrophysical environments and to determine how this evolution can provide clues about the chemical processes that may have given rise to biochemical systems.

With Infranalytics, I worked with several FTICR platforms to perform untargeted mass spectrometry analyses. Thanks to the ultra-high resolution of FTICR analyzers and the mass accuracy they provide, we can obtain the molecular formulas present in organic matter from various astrophysical environments, even from very small sample quantities. In particular, we studied soluble and insoluble organic matter samples from different meteorites and cometary ice analogs using laser ionization desorption.

Find out more: 10.1051 / 0004-6361 / 202244191 

Platform used: CARMeN, University of Rouen-Normandy