Radiation chemistry of an aqueous solution of glycine: compounds of interest to chemical evolution studies.

We have examined the radiolysis of an O2-free aqueous solution of glycine at absorbed doses of 60Co gamma-radiation of up to 20 Mrad. At least 20 compounds are formed during radiolysis, among them several amino acids, an oligoamine, and the nitrogen-free polymers (Mw less than or equal to 28,000 daltons). When dicyandiamide is present in the solution of glycine, various nitrogen-containing products, including some polymers (Mw less than or equal to 12,000 daltons), are synthesized along with radiolytic products of glycine; polyglycines are not formed. We have determined the radiation-chemical yields of radiolytic-product formation and of decomposition of glycine, and have considered possible free-radical reactions leading to the radiation-induced changes observed.