Recent simulations have indicated that vinyl cyanide is the best candidate molecule for the formation of cell membranes vesicle structures in titan s hydrocarbon rich lakes and seas.
Vinyl cyanide membrane.
They proposed that vinyl cyanide molecules could come together as a sheet of material similar to a cell membrane.
Molecular modeling studies of a variety of molecules containing these elements showed that vinyl cyanide was the molecule most likely to form a stable and flexible membrane that acts like earth based membranes under titan s conditions.
Acrylonitrile is an organic compound with the formula ch 2 chcn.
The chemical vinyl cyanide was discovered on titan by astronomer maureen palmer and a team of researchers at nasa goddard.
In the right conditions vinyl cyanide could form cell membranes.
The study that details their findings titled alma detection and astrobiological potential of vinyl cyanide on titan was published in the july 28th issue of the journal science advances.
Palmer says there is enough vinyl cyanide on titan to form up to 30 million cell membranes per cubic centimetre of liquid in one of the hazy moon s largest seas.
Although the existence of vinyl cyanide c2h3cn on titan was previously inferred using cassini mass spectrometry a definitive detection has been lacking until now.
In terms of its molecular structure it consists of a vinyl group linked to a nitrile it is an important monomer for the manufacture of useful plastics such as polyacrylonitrile.
Still the fact that vinyl cyanide has the theorized ability to form membranous balls is even more tantalizing now that we know how abundant it is on titan.
Vinyl cyanide found on titan aliens have at it.
The compound might be suitable for cell membranes.
It is a colorless volatile liquid although commercial samples can be yellow due to impurities.
The sheet could form a hollow microscopic sphere that they dubbed an azotosome.
Still vinyl cyanide based life like any other would face challenging circumstances on titan.