Chondritic meteorites, and especially the most volatile-rich chondrites, the carbonaceous chondrites, preserve a record of the solar protoplanetary disk dust component and how it has been changed both in the disk environment itself and in its asteroidal parent body. Here we review some of the key features of carbonaceous chondrites and report some new data on their organics component. These show that the nebula reached temperature of >10000C, but only very locally, to produce chondrules. Most meteoritic material underwent thermal and/or aqueous processing, but some retain delicate nebular components such as complex organic molecules and amorphous silicates.

The Tieschitz chondrite is a disequilibrium assemblage of silicate, metal and sulphide occurring together or separately as chondrules and clasts that generally have opaque rims (matrix) of fine-grained material. Translucent, silicate-rich matrix fills channels that occur sporadically between chondrules and clasts. An angular fragment of twinned ‘clinoenstatite’ was found to be rimmed with chromium- and manganese-rich augite and surrounded by opaque matrix. The whole is set within the largest area of translucent (white) interchondrule matrix encountered. It is suggested that reaction between crystallizing undersaturated translucent matrix, opaque matrix, and clinoenstatite probably led to the partial replacement of clinoenstatite by chromian-manganoan augite at high temperature.

The evolution of Fe-containing phases of carbonaceous chondrites heated under various oxidation-reduction conditions was investigated by means of Mössbauer spectroscopy. Heating of the lower petrological types of chondrites (CM2) released gases which initially produced oxidizing conditions (∼450°C) and then reducing conditions (> 700°C Phase transformation occurred rapidly (during 1–5 minutes) at all temperatures. During heating the Fe-bearing phyllosilicate phases in CM2-chondrite converted to Fe-bearing olivine, metallic iron and troilite (pentlandite). These phases resemble those of CO3, CV3 and EH-chondrites. Iron distribution resembling that of ordinary chondrites (some additional Fe2+ in pyroxene) was obtained only by heating a mixture of oxidized matter (CM2) with reduced matter (EH).

A phase transition discovered at 1050°C is probably the temperature boundary between conditions of formation of the two main components of ordinary chondrites: matrix and chondrules. Chondrules of ordinary chondrites may be formed at temperatures > 1050°C while the matrix forms at temperatures < 1050°C For the carbonaceous chondrite Kainzas (CO3) these temperatures are approximately 1000°C and < 900°C The experimental conditions determined for the evolution of chondrites do not contradict the theoretical two-component model of Wood-Anders-Ringwood and may further its development.

Tholins are polymeric hydrogenated carbon nitrides formed from N2:CH4 mixtures exposed to electrical discharges. They are complex disordered solids, and their structural chemistry and formation processes are not yet fully understood. Tholins have been widely adopted as useful analogs of reddish organic solids associated with planetary bodies or in interstellar space (e.g., Titan's aerosols, reddish surfaces of outer objects, interstellar organics, etc.) for fitting astronomical observations. However, there has been little evidence to date that they in fact constitute pertinent model materials, i. e. with chemical structure/composition similar to those presumed to be present in planetary or interstellar organic solids. In this contribution, we first review recent advances made regarding the determination of composition and structure of tholins produced in the laboratory. They point to a high chemical selectivity in the range of functional groups present, the control of unsaturation by nitrogen, and the highly disordered character of the structures. In a second section, we discuss the relationship between chemistry and the optical properties of tholins, and we point out the lack of a unique relationship between the shape and strength of the visible absorption bands and the chemical composition or structure of the model tholins. The tholins exhibit similarities with HCN “polymers”, that are suspected to be present in cometary refractory dust. This points to the existence of possible similar polymerisation processes, and it suggests they could also be used as analogs of N-rich cometary organics. Laboratory-based studies of cometary dust might offer new insights on the “chemical relevancy” of tholins, as combined micro-analytical techniques will allow direct comparison of chemical information between the materials produced. In a third section we present recent results pertaining to the search for such compounds in cometary grains (Stardust grains, interplanetary dust particles - IDPs). We show that some N-rich spots in stratospheric IDPs are rich in cyanide species, but no tholin-like compounds or polymeric HCN have been detected to date.

Macromolecular organic materials in chondrites display significant variations in carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. In recent years, these variations have been interpreted as a record of aqueous and thermal processing on asteroids shortly after the birth of the Solar System. In this paper we review and summarize the key data and main interpretative approaches related to this study area. Armed with these methods we attempt to reinterpret the whole rock chondrite data set in the literature.