Fig. 3.

GC-MS analysis of 4C and 5C sugar alcohols including enantiomer separation of d and l threitol from various meteorites. Meteorites analyzed are (A) Murchison (Murch) 57, (B) equimolar standards of erythritol and threitol (total, d+l) run under the same GC parameters as Murch 57, (C) GRA 95229, and (D) ALH 85013. The rare hydroxymethylglycerol (HMGly), the reduced analog of HMG (Fig. 1), was observed in most meteorite samples. (E) 5C Sugar alcohols from GRA 95229 (Upper) compared with corresponding compounds in soil/dust (Lower). The soil/dust sample was extracted for 20 h under an ambient (air) atmosphere. All compounds were analyzed as TFA derivatives.