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1. The driving effects of common atmospheric molecules for formation of clusters: the case of sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, ammonia, and dimethylamine

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D3EA00118K  

   Longsworth, Olivia M.; Bready, Conor J.; Joines, Macie S.; Shields, George C. (January 2023, Environmental Science: Atmospheres)

   Secondary aerosols form from gas-phase molecules that create prenucleation complexes, which grow to form aerosols. Understanding how secondary aerosols form in the atmosphere is essential for a better understanding of global warming. 

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2. The driving effects of common atmospheric molecules for formation of clusters: the case of sulfuric acid, formic acid, hydrochloric acid, ammonia, and dimethylamine

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D3EA00087G  

   Longsworth, Olivia M.; Bready, Conor J.; Shields, George C. (September 2023, Environmental Science: Atmospheres)

   One of the main sources of uncertainty for understanding global warming is understanding the formation of larger secondary aerosols. 

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3. The driving effects of common atmospheric molecules for formation of prenucleation clusters: the case of sulfuric acid, formic acid, nitric acid, ammonia, and dimethyl amine

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D2EA00087C  

   Bready, Conor J.; Fowler, Vance R.; Juechter, Leah A.; Kurfman, Luke A.; Mazaleski, Grace E.; Shields, George C. (October 2022, Environmental Science: Atmospheres)

   How secondary aerosols form is critical as aerosols' impact on Earth's climate is one of the main sources of uncertainty for understanding global warming. The beginning stages for formation of prenucleation complexes, that lead to larger aerosols, are difficult to decipher experimentally. We present a computational chemistry study of the interactions between three different acid molecules and two different bases. By combining a comprehensive search routine covering many thousands of configurations at the semiempirical level with high level quantum chemical calculations of approximately 1000 clusters for every possible combination of clusters containing a sulfuric acid molecule, a formic acid molecule, a nitric acid molecule, an ammonia molecule, a dimethylamine molecule, and 0–5 water molecules, we have completed an exhaustive search of the DLPNO-CCSD(T)/CBS//ωB97X-D/6-31++G** Gibbs free energy surface for this system. We find that the detailed geometries of each minimum free energy cluster are often more important than traditional acid or base strength. Addition of a water molecule to a dry cluster can enhance stabilization, and we find that the (SA)(NA)(A)(DMA)(W) cluster has special stability. Equilibrium calculations of SA, FA, NA, A, DMA, and water using our quantum chemical Δ G ° values for cluster formation and realistic estimates of the concentrations of these monomers in the atmosphere reveals that nitric acid can drive early stages of particle formation just as efficiently as sulfuric acid. Our results lead us to believe that particle formation in the atmosphere results from the combination of many different molecules that are able to form highly stable complexes with acid molecules such as SA, NA, and FA. 

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4. Structure sensitivity of the electrochemical hydrogenation of cis , cis -muconic acid to hexenedioic acid and adipic acid

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D3GC03021K  

   Patel, Deep M; Prabhu, Prathamesh T; Gupta, Geet; Dell'Anna, Marco Nazareno; Kling, Samantha; Nguyen, Huy T; Tessonnier, Jean-Philippe; Roling, Luke T (April 2024, Green Chemistry)
5. Abiotic origin of the citric acid cycle intermediates

   https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2501839122  

   McAnally, Mason; Bocková, Jana; Turner, Andrew M; Hara, Nana; Mikhnova, Daria; Meinert, Cornelia; Kaiser, Ralf I (April 2025, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

   The molecular framework for protometabolism—chemical reactions in a prebiotic environment preceding modern metabolism—has remained unknown in evolutionary biology. Mono-, di-, and tricarboxylic acids that comprise contemporary metabolism, such as the Krebs cycle, are of particular prebiotic relevance and are theorized to predate life on Earth. Researchers have struggled to unravel the molecular origins of respiration, with theories pointing toward abiotic origins later co-opted by the earliest living organisms; however, the molecular network of these molecules has remained elusive. Recent detections of carboxylic acids linked to the Krebs cycle on the Ryugu asteroid and Murchison meteorite rekindled interest in their extraterrestrial origins. Replicating conditions analogous to the environment of dense molecular clouds in laboratory simulation experiments, our work provides compelling evidence on the abiotic synthesis of the complete suite of biorelevant molecules central to the Krebs cycle. The opportunity for these biomolecules forming in deep space could provide molecular origins of protometabolism on early Earth and also provide the molecular feedstock to worlds beyond our own. 

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