The wet chemistry experiments on the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument on NASA’s Curiosity rover were designed to facilitate gas chromatography mass spectrometry analyses of polar molecules such as amino acids and carboxylic acids. Here we present the results of such a successful wet chemistry experiment on Mars on sand scooped from the Bagnold Dunes with the N-methyl-N-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl) trifluoroacetamide derivatization agent. No amino-acid derivatives were detected. However, chemically derivatized benzoic acid and ammonia were detected. Mass spectra matching derivatized phosphoric acid and phenol were present, as were several nitrogen-bearing molecules and as yet unidentified high-molecular-weight compounds. The origin of these compounds, including those that may be internal to the Sample Analysis at Mars background, is examined. This derivatization experiment on Mars has expanded the inventory of molecules present in Martian samples and demonstrated a powerful tool to further enable the search for polar organic molecules of biotic or prebiotic relevance.

美国宇航局好奇号火星车上的火星仪器样品分析湿化学实验旨在促进氨基酸和羧酸等极性分子的气相色谱质谱分析。在这里，我们展示了在火星上进行的如此成功的湿化学实验的结果，该实验是在从 Bagnold 沙丘中挖出的沙子上用N-甲基-N- (叔-丁基二甲基甲硅烷基）三氟乙酰胺衍生剂。没有检测到氨基酸衍生物。然而，检测到化学衍生的苯甲酸和氨。存在与衍生的磷酸和苯酚匹配的质谱，还有几种含氮分子和尚未鉴定的高分子量化合物。检查了这些化合物的来源，包括可能在火星背景下的样品分析内部的化合物。这项在火星上进行的衍生化实验扩大了火星样本中存在的分子清单，并展示了一种强大的工具，可以进一步寻找与生物或益生元相关的极性有机分子。