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electricNick31 t1_j5nzwr7 wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in NASA's James Webb Space Telescope finds signs of 'building blocks for life' in icy clouds | Science & Tech News by Vercitti

AANDA.org

>Surface formation rates of ethyl formate, methyl formate and ethanol are not strictly dependent on methanol abundance in the ices, but rather on the rate of formation of its photodissociation products, CH3O, CH2OH, and CH3.

This is all over my head, but is that close to what you're looking for? Most articles I'm seeing focus on quantum tunnelling & it's impact on chemical reactions involving methanol.

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[deleted] t1_j5piro1 wrote

Thanks for having a crack, that article is a touch over my head as well, but I have found this article which explains an abiotic process for ethanol synthesis, which may not be the one that is happening on the observed planet, but at least I now know that ethanol is possible to be synthesised by abiotic means, whereas when I initially read the OP I was thinking they found sure signs of life for a minute there!

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