Prebiotic adenine synthesis from HCN—Evidence for a newly discovered major pathway

Voet, Andries B.; Schwartz, Alan W.

doi:10.1016/0045-2068(83)90003-2

Cited by 62 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Very little is known about the structure of the insoluble polymer or about the way in which adenine is incorporated into it. While some adenine may be released directly from the solid on hydrolysis by acid, much of it is released initially as adenine-8-carboxamide and related compounds (Voet & Schwartz, 1983).…”

Section: Purine Synthesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Prebiotic Chemistry and the Origin of the RNA World

Orgel

2004

Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

907

248

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The demonstration that ribosomal peptide synthesis is a ribozyme-catalyzed reaction makes it almost certain that there was once an RNA World. The central problem for origin-of-life studies, therefore, is to understand how a protein-free RNA World became established on the primitive Earth. We first review the literature on the prebiotic synthesis of the nucleotides, the nonenzymatic synthesis and copying of polynucleotides, and the selection of ribozyme catalysts of a kind that might have facilitated polynucleotide replication. This leads to a brief outline of the Molecular Biologists' Dream, an optimistic scenario for the origin of the RNA World. In the second part of the review we point out the many unresolved problems presented by the Molecular Biologists' Dream. This in turn leads to a discussion of genetic systems simpler than RNA that might have "invented" RNA. Finally, we review studies of prebiotic membrane formation.

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Section: Purine Synthesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Prebiotic Chemistry and the Origin of the RNA World

Orgel

2004

Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

907

248

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“…Since then, the abiotic synthesis of adenine from the polymerization of HCN under various conditions has been achieved many times (7,(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15). The highest yield of adenine (20%) resulted from the sealed-tube reaction of HCN with liquid ammonia (16).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The abiotic synthesis of adenine from a solution of HCN and ammonia was first reported by Oró and colleagues in 1960 (6-9). Although many experimentalists have contributed to our understanding of possible prebiotic processes, low yields and mechanistic complexities rule out detailed investigations (7,(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15). The key riddle remains: how do five HCN molecules combine to form adenine under prebiotic conditions?…”

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confidence: 99%

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Chemical evolution: The mechanism of the formation of adenine under prebiotic conditions

Roy

Najafian

Schleyer

2007

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

109

138

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“…In a general way, the hydrolysis of these polymers yields purines, pyrimidines, and amino acids, as well as of others compounds such as oxalic acid and guanidine (see e.g. Ferris et al 1973, Voet and Schwartz 1983. However, in spite of the many efforts made to elucidate their structure and of the proposed models (Umemoto et al 1987, Ferris et al 1981, Matthews and Moser 1967and Völker 1960) some questions are still opened.…”

Section: Efficient Synthesis Of Pyrimidines and Triazines From Urea Amentioning

confidence: 99%