Carbonaceous chondrite meteorites are primitive asteroidal fragments that contain organic carbon and offer a glimpse of the a-biotic chemical processes that preceded the onset of life. Their organic material displays structures as diverse as kerogen-like macromolecules and simpler soluble compounds with identical counterparts in terrestrial biomolecules. While the origin of life remains an inscrutable event, these unique natural samples of meteorites offer the means for learning the range of abiotic molecules available to prebiotic chemistry as well as to explore the physico chemical regimes that may have led to a selected chemical pool that was amenable to the onset of life.