Über das Verhalten des Formamids unter der Wirkung der stillen Entladung Ein Beitrag zur Frage der Stickstoff‐Assimilation

Löb, Walther

doi:10.1002/cber.19130460193

Cited by 62 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…We conceived another system, hereon named Miller−formamide (MF01), based on the MS01 one, but containing, from the start, eight molecules of each chemically relevant molecular species so far identified, i.e., formic acid, formamide, water, ammonia, and carbon monoxide, while the inert nitrogen and methane were discarded. This choice was also consistent with a century-old experiment of wet formamide under an electric discharge, capable of unexpectedly producing glycine (44). We set up the corresponding simulation box, and carried out the AIMD calculations along the same lines of the other systems.…”

Section: Results: From Formamide To Amino Acidsmentioning

confidence: 86%

Miller experiments in atomistic computer simulations

Saitta

Saija

2014

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

166

147

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The celebrated Miller experiments reported on the spontaneous formation of amino acids from a mixture of simple molecules reacting under an electric discharge, giving birth to the research field of prebiotic chemistry. However, the chemical reactions involved in those experiments have never been studied at the atomic level. Here we report on, to our knowledge, the first ab initio computer simulations of Miller-like experiments in the condensed phase. Our study, based on the recent method of treatment of aqueous systems under electric fields and on metadynamics analysis of chemical reactions, shows that glycine spontaneously forms from mixtures of simple molecules once an electric field is switched on and identifies formic acid and formamide as key intermediate products of the early steps of the Miller reactions, and the crucible of formation of complex biological molecules.I n 1953, Miller reported (1) the surprising results he had achieved by the application of an electric discharge on a mixture of the gases CH 4 , NH 3 , H 2 O, and H 2 that simulated what was considered at the time as a model atmosphere for the primordial Earth. The result of this experiment was a substantial yield of a mixture of amino acids (2-4). Similarly, Orò demonstrated the spontaneous formation of nucleic acid bases from aqueous hydrogen cyanide subject to heating and/or spark discharges (5). Since then, a number of different hypotheses have been formulated to explain the synthesis, from simple molecules (water, ammonia, methane, carbon oxides), of simple organic molecules (formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, formic acid), and from the latter ones to biological monomers (amino acids, purines, pyrimidines) up the ladder of the complexity of life (6, 7). However, a "standard model" explaining the emergence of larger and larger molecular assemblies is lacking. Various sources of energy that might have initiated this synthesis have been suggested in the last 60 y, including UV irradiation both in extraterrestrial and terrestrial environments (8-11), hydrothermal energy from deep sea vents (12, 13), shock waves from meteorite impact (14-20), redox energy in the "iron−sulphur world" hypothesis (21), radioactive emission from uranium accumulation (22), and, of course, electric discharges originated by lightning, which motivated the Miller experiment, and are the inspiration of the present work. Despite the historical importance of Miller's experiments, no attempts have been made to explore the role of the electric field, traditionally considered merely in terms of just another thermal activation.A key aspect of that experiment was the formation of hydrogen cyanide, aldehydes, ketones, and amino acids, suggesting that the compounds were produced by the Strecker cyanohydrin reaction (23). Subsequent Miller-like experiments, run with other types and combinations of gases (24, 25) representing plausible geochemical conditions, produced other classes of basic building block molecules, namely sugars and nucleotides. To date, all of the major classes of...

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Section: Results: From Formamide To Amino Acidsmentioning

confidence: 86%

Miller experiments in atomistic computer simulations

Saitta

Saija

2014

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

166

147

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“…The main outcome is a molecule deriving from an oxygen reducing process with enhanced CPE that is stable over the timescale of at least a halfday. This end product 'A' is then a photosynthetically produced sugar: probably, but not necessarily, along the lines considered by Garrison et al [25,26]. This 'A-subprocess' we write as:…”

Section: Molecular Mechanismmentioning

confidence: 95%

Biospheric Energization

Budding¹

2015

Astrobiol Outreach

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“…During the nineteenth century there was extensive research on the synthesis of simple organic compounds using a variety of conditions. In 1913 Walther Löb achieved the synthesis of the simple amino acid, glycine, by exposing wet formamide to a silent electrical discharge and to ultraviolet light (Löb, 1913). However, it appears that no one had thought about how these experiments might relate to prebiotic (before biology) synthesis and the origin of life.…”

Section: N Modeling the Early Earth In The Laboratorymentioning

confidence: 99%

One of the foremost experiments of the 20th century: Stanley Miller and the origin of prebiotic chemistry

Bada

2015

Mètode

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Stanley Miller is best known for his classic 1953 experiment on the synthesis of early Earth organic compounds, in the context of the origins of life. However, he did several other experiments that are lesser known and, in some cases, have never been published. The finding in 2007 that Miller had archived dried solutions from his 1950s experiments offered the opportunity of analyzing the products of his early experiments using modern day state-of-the-art techniques. These results, along with Miller's results, have provided an inventory of the large variety of compounds that include amino acids, amines, simple peptides, hydroxy acids, simple hydrocarbons and urea, which can be synthesized under simulated early Earth conditions.

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Über das Verhalten des Formamids unter der Wirkung der stillen Entladung Ein Beitrag zur Frage der Stickstoff‐Assimilation

Cited by 62 publications

References 4 publications

Miller experiments in atomistic computer simulations

Miller experiments in atomistic computer simulations

Biospheric Energization

One of the foremost experiments of the 20th century: Stanley Miller and the origin of prebiotic chemistry

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