Chemical evolution

Ferris, James P.; Wos, J. D.; Lobo, Angelo P.

doi:10.1007/bf01796046

Cited by 21 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 9 publications

(6 reference statements)

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“…This result was checked by heating of standard solutions of 5,5-dimethylhydantoin in NH 4 OH (pH 12). 5,5-Dimethylhydantoin was previously detected in acid-hydrolyzed HCN polymers [29] and in carbonaceous chondrites such as Murchinson [30] and Yamato-791198 [31]. In those cases, the formation of hydantoins is explained by reaction between cyanate and amino acids to form the N-carbamoyl derivatives, which, in turn, may cyclize to hydantoins.…”

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confidence: 97%

Thermal Wet Decomposition of Prussian Blue: Implications for Prebiotic Chemistry

Ruíz-Bermejo

Rogero

Menor‐Salván

et al. 2009

Chemistry & Biodiversity

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The complex salt named Prussian Blue, Fe4[Fe(CN)6]3 x 15 H2O, can release cyanide at pH > 10. From the point of view of the origin of life, this fact is of interest, since the oligomers of HCN, formed in the presence of ammonium or amines, leads to a variety of biomolecules. In this work, for the first time, the thermal wet decomposition of Prussian Blue was studied. To establish the influence of temperature and reaction time on the ability of Prussian Blue to release cyanide and to subsequently generate other compounds, suspensions of Prussian Blue were heated at temperatures from room temperature to 150 degrees at pH 12 in NH3 environment for several days. The NH3 wet decomposition of Prussian Blue generated hematite, alpha-Fe2O3, the soluble complex salt (NH4)4[Fe(CN6)] x 1.5 H2O, and several organic compounds, the nature and yield of which depend on the experimental conditions. Urea, lactic acid, 5,5-dimethylhydantoin, and several amino acids and carboxylic acids were identified by their trimethylsilyl (TMS) derivatives. HCN, cyanogen (C2N2), and formamide (HCONH2) were detected in the gas phase by GC/MS analysis.

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confidence: 97%

Thermal Wet Decomposition of Prussian Blue: Implications for Prebiotic Chemistry

Ruíz-Bermejo

Rogero

Menor‐Salván

et al. 2009

Chemistry & Biodiversity

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“…Hydantoin, the cyclic form of hydantoic acid, has been identified as a component of the Murchison meteorite (45) and as a product of the polymerization of HCN (46). Yields as high as 18% for cytosine-N 1 -acetic acid and 1.8% for uracil-N 1 -acetic acid based on cyanoacetaldehyde were observed in the reaction of 1 mM cyanoacetaldehyde with 2 M hydantoic acid at 100°C.…”

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confidence: 99%

Peptide nucleic acids rather than RNA may have been the first genetic molecule

Nelson

Levy

Miller

2000

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

246

121

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Numerous problems exist with the current thinking of RNA as the first genetic material. No plausible prebiotic processes have yet been demonstrated to produce the nucleosides or nucleotides or for efficient two-way nonenzymatic replication. Peptide nucleic acid (PNA) is a promising precursor to RNA, consisting of N-(2-aminoethyl)glycine (AEG) and the adenine, uracil, guanine, and cytosine-N-acetic acids. However, PNA has not yet been demonstrated to be prebiotic. We show here that AEG is produced directly in electric discharge reactions from CH4, N2, NH3, and H2O. Electric discharges also produce ethylenediamine, as do NH4CN polymerizations. AEG is produced from the robust Strecker synthesis with ethylenediamine. The NH4CN polymerization in the presence of glycine leads to the adenine and guanine-N 9 -acetic acids, and the cytosine and uracil-N 1 -acetic acids are produced in high yield from the reaction of cyanoacetaldehyde with hydantoic acid, rather than urea. Preliminary experiments suggest that AEG may polymerize rapidly at 100°C to give the polypeptide backbone of PNA. The ease of synthesis of the components of PNA and possibility of polymerization of AEG reinforce the possibility that PNA may have been the first genetic material.prebiotic synthesis ͉ first genetic material ͉ pre-RNA world ͉ RNA world ͉ chemical evolution T he discovery of the catalytic activity of RNA (1, 2) brought the concept of an RNA world (3-7) into wide acceptance. However, the instability of ribose and other sugars (8), the great difficulty of prebiotic synthesis of the glycosidic bonds of the necessary nucleotides (9, 10), and the inability to achieve twoway non-enzymatic template polymerizations (11, 12) have raised serious questions about whether RNA could have been the first genetic material (13), although there are dissenting opinions (6,14). A pre-RNA world in which the backbone of the first genetic material would have been different from the ribose phosphate seems more likely, but the nature of this backbone is unknown. One proposal offers peptide nucleic acids (PNA) as a possible precursor to RNA (15) because PNA binds DNA and forms double and triple helical structures that are related to the Watson-Crick helix (16-18).The backbone of PNA is a polymer of N-(2-aminoethyl)glycine (AEG), which is sometimes referred to as ethylenediamine monoacetic acid. It is interesting to note that Westheimer listed AEG as one of a number of possible backbones to replace ribose phosphate (19). This was four years before the invention of peptide nucleic acids. The bases are attached to the backbone by a base-substituted acetyl unit, as shown in Fig. 1. The simplicity of the components of PNA suggests that prebiotic syntheses might be feasible. We therefore examined a number of prebiotic syntheses, including electric discharges and NH 4 CN polymerizations for ethylenediamine (ED) and AEG, as well as the adenine and guanine-N 9 -acetic acids and the cytosine and uracil-N 1 -acetic acids. We show here that the components of PNA are synthesized u...

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“…John Oró, one of the pioneers in prebiotic chemistry, carried out syntheses in the liquid phase by reacting HCN, NH 3 and H 2 O at 353 K. The results were confirmed by Löwe et al (1963) and developed further; ten years later, Jim Ferris took them up and did considerable further work (Ferris et al, 1973(Ferris et al, , 1974. John Oró, one of the pioneers in prebiotic chemistry, carried out syntheses in the liquid phase by reacting HCN, NH 3 and H 2 O at 353 K. The results were confirmed by Löwe et al (1963) and developed further; ten years later, Jim Ferris took them up and did considerable further work (Ferris et al, 1973(Ferris et al, , 1974.…”

Section: Fig 43mentioning

confidence: 95%