ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

This is a page describing data taken during an experiment at the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source. Information about the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source can be found at https://www.isis.stfc.ac.uk.


Liquid-state Association of Simple Biomolecules Under Titan Mimetic Conditions

Abstract: We propose to study the association of the amino acid glycine in aqueous ammonia as a model system for biomolecular assembly in Titan mimetic environments. Building on our previous work on astronomically relevant mimetic aqueous solutions, the ammonia concentration will be fixed at a water : ammonia molar ratio of 3.665 : 1, and the glycine concentration will be fixed at a water : glycine ratio of 30 : 1, and the solutions will be explored at two temperatures. Through neutron diffraction and structural refinement we will determine (1) the clustering of glycine through hydrogen bonding between its hydrogen bond donating amine and hydrogen bond accepting carboxyl groups, (2) the perturbations to hydrophobic clustering of glycine through its side chain hydrogens, (3) hydrogen bond interactions between glycine and ammonia, and (4) perturbations to the bulk water structure by the combined influence of glycine and ammonia. This will support the group's research in exploring the physics of life in extreme environments, the Walsh group at Leeds and their interest in exploring habitable worlds, the continued developed of Dr Harry Laurent and the training and development of new ISIS facility development student Issy Sutton who begins in October 2025.

Principal Investigator: Professor Lorna Dougan
Experimenter: Miss Isabel Sutton
Experimenter: Dr Matthew Hughes
Experimenter: Dr Oliver Alderman
Experimenter: Dr Harrison Laurent
Local Contact: Dr Tom Headen

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2520046

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2520046

Part DOI Instrument Public release date Download Link
10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2520046-1 SANDALS 09 December 2028 Download

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
Select the data format above to find out more about it.

Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Professor Lorna Dougan et al; (2025): Liquid-state Association of Simple Biomolecules Under Titan Mimetic Conditions, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2520046

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.



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