Prebiotic Phosphorylation Reactions on the Early Earth

Abstract

Phosphorus (P) is an essential element for life. It occurs in living beings in the form of phosphate, which is ubiquitous in biochemistry, chiefly in the form of C-O-P (carbon, oxygen and phosphorus), C-P, or P-O-P linkages to form life. Within prebiotic chemistry, several key questions concerning phosphorus chemistry have developed: what were the most likely sources of P on the early Earth? How did it become incorporated into the biological world to form the P compounds that life employs today? Can meteorites be responsible for the delivery of P? What were the most likely solvents on the early Earth and out of those which are favorable for phosphorylation? Or, alternatively, were P compounds most likely produced in relatively dry environments? What were the most suitable temperature conditions for phosphorylation? A route to efficient formation of biological P compounds is still a question that challenges astrobiologists. This article discusses these important issues related to the origin of biological P compounds.

Schreibersite: an effective catalyst in the formose reaction network

“…The low abundance of free phosphorus is accompanied with its generally low reactivity towards organic molecules in its most stable form, orthophosphate. It is still highly discussed by what chemical pathway phosphorus could have been incorporated into organic molecules [37,38]. Besides reactions in non-aqueous media such as formamide [39][40][41][42][43][44] and eutectic media [45] as well as by use of condensing agents (urea [46][47][48][49] and cyanamide [50][51][52]) or activated phosphates (pyro-, tri-, poly-, cyclic-or diamidophosphate) [16,27,[53][54][55], one scenario is based on the meteoritic material schreibersite (Fe,Ni,Cr) 3 P [56].…”

A Stark Contrast to Modern Earth: Phosphate Mineral Transformation and Nucleoside Phosphorylation in an Iron‐ and Cyanide‐Rich Early Earth Scenario

“…Thep hosphate problem stems from the fact that organophosphates,major components of all biological systems,have been considered essential prebiotic molecules but integrating phosphate into prebiotic chemical reactions has proven to be problematic. [9][10][11] This problem arises from challenges associated with prebiotic reactions for the phosphorylation of organic molecules,a nd the perception that phosphate was unavailable due to its sequestration in insoluble minerals. [12] Historically,t hese issues have been addressed through ureacatalyzed phosphorylation with soluble phosphate salts and minerals.…”

A Stark Contrast to Modern Earth: Phosphate Mineral Transformation and Nucleoside Phosphorylation in an Iron‐ and Cyanide‐Rich Early Earth Scenario

“…The phosphate problem stems from the fact that organophosphates, major components of all biological systems, have been considered essential prebiotic molecules but integrating phosphate into prebiotic chemical reactions has proven to be problematic . This problem arises from challenges associated with prebiotic reactions for the phosphorylation of organic molecules, and the perception that phosphate was unavailable due to its sequestration in insoluble minerals .…”