The formation of glycerol occurs when a solution of DL-glyceraldehyde is heated in the presence of hydrogen sulfide at room temperature. DL-glyceraldehyde and dihydroxyacetone treated with hydrazine, as well as DL-glyceraldehyde incubated with formaldehyde are also partially converted to glycerol. The yields of the above reactions are from approximately 1% to about 3%. The formation of glycerophosphates occurs when glycerol is heated with ammonium dihydrogen phosphate and either urea or cyanamide. The yield of glycerophosphates is about 30%, most of which is sn-glycero-1 (3)-phosphate. These findings indicate that glycerol and sn-glycero-3-phosphate, which are moieties of glycerolipids, could have been formed under conditions which may have prevailed on the primitive Earth.

No abstract

Peptides were formed in yields of 5%, 17% and 66%, respectively, when aqueous solutions of glycine, isoleucine or phenylalanine were dried and heated for 24 h at 90 degrees C with adenosine 5'-triphosphate, 4-amino-5-imidazolecarboxamide and cyanamide. Glycine and L-phenylalanine produced mixtures of di-, tri- and tetrapeptides, while L-isoleucine gave only the dipeptide in detectable quantities. The dipeptides of L-isoleucine and L-phenylalanine were identified by mass spectrometry and enzymatic and enzymatic degradation.

No abstract

Normal paraffins in the C(16) to C(32) range and the saturated isoprenoid hydrocarbons, pristane and phytane, have been found in chert from the Gunflint iron formation (1.9 x 10(9) years old) of the north shore of Lake Superior. The distribution of n-alkanes shows two maxima, one at about C(18) to C(19) and the other at about C(22) with a minimum occurring at C(20) to C(21). No predominance of odd- to even-carbon-number alkanes is observed within the C(16) to C(32) range. The results agree with micropaleontological observations made on the Gunflint chert and provide a chemical characterization of Precambrian life existing about two eons ago.