Time-of-flight mass spectrometry finds synthesis of 'super alcohol' a basic unit of biochemistry

Collaboration isolates methanetetrol for first time

A team of astrochemists has synthesised methanetetrol for the first time, isolating the highly unstable compound believed to be a key intermediate in prebiotic chemistry. The molecule, which contains four hydroxyl groups – dubbed ‘super alcohol’ – that is bonded to a single carbon atom, could help to identify regions in space capable of supporting the chemical processes that precede life.

Methanetetrol belongs to a class of compounds known as ortho acids, which are exceptionally difficult to stabilise. To replicate the astrochemical environment in which such a molecule might naturally arise, the researchers prepared analogues of ice found in space by co-depositing water and carbon dioxide onto a substrate cooled to very low temperatures between 5 and 10 kelvin under ultra‑high vacuum conditions.

These ices were then irradiated with high-energy electrons to simulate galactic cosmic rays, initiating a radical-driven reaction cascade. This sequence produced not only carbonic acid and methanetriol, but ultimately the previously elusive methanetetrol.

To confirm the presence of methanetetrol, the team used vacuum‑ultraviolet photoionisation time‑of‑flight mass spectrometry (PI‑ReToF‑MS), using tunable vacuum‑ultraviolet light generated by a synchrotron. During temperature-programmed desorption, molecules sublimated from the irradiated ice were photoionised and separated by mass-to-charge ratio.

This approach enabled the team to detect methanetetrol directly via its characteristic dissociative fragment ion, C(OH)₃⁺, and to distinguish it from structurally related intermediates.

The study was led by Ryan Fortenberry of the University of Mississippi, Ralf Kaiser of the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, and Alexander M. Mebel of Florida International University.

“This is essentially a prebiotic concentrate – a seed of life molecule. It’s something that can lead to more complex chemistry if given the opportunity. Think of it like an acorn that will grow into a tree in the Grove.

The acorn alone cannot make a tree; it requires sunlight and water and lots of other things. But it can be what starts the process,” said Fortenberry.

Kaiser, whose laboratory has pursued methanetetrol for more than five years, said: “The detection of the only alcohol with four hydroxyl groups [on] the same carbon atom pushes the experimental and detection capabilities to the ‘final frontier’, the next level beyond what could be accomplished before, due to the lack of experimental and computational approaches.”

Because the close arrangement of hydroxyl groups renders methanetetrol intrinsically unstable, the molecule decomposes rapidly under ambient conditions in the regular lab. The researchers have likened it to a ‘prebiotic bomb’, capable of releasing water, hydrogen peroxide and other oxygenated products all with potential, significant roles in the formation of early biochemistry.

“You have this compact, carbon–oxygen molecule that just really wants to go ‘boom’,” said Fortenberry.

“And when it does, when you give it any kind of energy, you’ll have water, hydrogen peroxide and a number of other potential compounds that are important for life,” he said.

The team has suggested that, since methanetetrol can form under laboratory conditions that emulate the interstellar medium, the molecule may also arise naturally in deep space or on icy planetary surfaces. Its presence could therefore serve as a chemical signature of environments with the potential to support the molecular precursors of life.

“While carbon is the building block of life, oxygen is what makes up nearly everything else,” said Fortenberry.

“Oxygen is everywhere and is essential for life as we know it. So, if we can find places where methanetetrol forms naturally, we know that it is a place that has the potential building blocks to support life.”

For further reading please visit: 10.1038/s41467-025-61561-z