Asphalt, water, and the prebiotic synthesis of ribose, ribonucleosides, and RNA.
@article{Benner2012AsphaltWA, title={Asphalt, water, and the prebiotic synthesis of ribose, ribonucleosides, and RNA.}, author={Steven A. Benner and Hyo-Joong Kim and Matthew A. Carrigan}, journal={Accounts of chemical research}, year={2012}, volume={45 12}, pages={ 2025-34 } }
RNA has been called a "prebiotic chemist's nightmare" because of its combination of large size, carbohydrate building blocks, bonds that are thermodynamically unstable in water, and overall intrinsic instability. However, a discontinuous synthesis model is well-supported by experimental work that might produce RNA from atmospheric CO(2), H(2)O, and N(2). For example, electrical discharge in such atmospheres gives formaldehyde (HCHO) in large amounts and glycolaldehyde (HOCH(2)CHO) in small…
183 Citations
Molybdenum(VI)-Catalyzed Rearrangement of Prebiotic Carbohydrates in Formamide, a Candidate Prebiotic Solvent.
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It is reported that formamide can be used as a solvent to perform the Bílik reaction, which uses molybdenum(VI) oxo species as catalysts at near-neutral pH to rearrange branched carbohydrates to give linear carbohydrates.
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- Chemistry, BiologyProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- 2017
It is found that the phosphorylation of various sugars to form sugar-1-phosphates can proceed spontaneously in aqueous microdroplets containing a simple mixture of sugars and phosphoric acid, which suggests the possibility that micro Droplets could serve as a prebiotic synthetic pathway for ribonucleosides.
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- 2013
The occurrence of phosphite in early Archean marine carbonates at levels indicating that this was an abundant dissolved species in the ocean before 3.5 Ga is reported, showing that phosphite derived from schreibersite was a plausible reagent in the prebiotic synthesis of phosphorylated biomolecules.
Primordial bioenergy sources: The two facets of adenosine triphosphate.
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Non-enzymatic ribonucleotide reduction in the prebiotic context.
- Biology, ChemistryChemistry
- 2015
Several mechanisms for ribonucleotide reduction, in a putative H2 S/HS(.) environment, are characterized using computational chemistry and a bio-inspired mechanistic cycle involving a keto intermediate and HSSH production is found to be potentially viable.
Hydroxymethanesulfonate from Volcanic Sulfur Dioxide: A “Mineral” Reservoir for Formaldehyde and Other Simple Carbohydrates in Prebiotic Chemistry
- Environmental ScienceAstrobiology
- 2019
Hydroxymethylsulfonate adducts of formaldehyde, glycolaldehyde, and glyceraldehyde, including the less soluble barium, strontium, and calcium salts, are likely candidates for prebiotically useful organic minerals on early Earth.
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- BiologyPhysical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP
- 2016
Preliminary evidence is provided that BA could have been a putative precursor of modern nucleobases, which could have be incorporated into primitive informational polymers that predated the molecules of an RNA world.
Thermal Behavior of d-Ribose Adsorbed on Silica: Effect of Inorganic Salt Coadsorption and Significance for Prebiotic Chemistry.
- ChemistryChemistry
- 2016
The results allow the likelihood of prebiotic chemistry scenarios to be evaluated, and may also be of interest for the valorization of biomass-derived carbohydrates by heterogeneous catalysis.
The Juxtaposition of Ribose Hydroxyl Groups: The Root of Biological Catalysis and the RNA World?
- Biology, ChemistryOrigins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres
- 2015
It is proposed that the almost unique juxtaposition of ribose hydroxyl groups constitutes the root of both biological catalysis and the RNA world.
The Prebiotic Provenance of Semi-Aqueous Solvents
- Chemistry, BiologyOrigins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres
- 2020
It is suggested the urea within the UAFW system can lower the activity of water, help create a stable and persistent solution, and may act as a condensing agent/catalyst to improve nucleoside phosphorylation yields.
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