Beyond prebiotic chemistry

Leroy Cronin; Sara Imari Walker

doi:10.1126/science.aaf6310

Beyond prebiotic chemistry

Science ◽

10.1126/science.aaf6310 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 352 (6290) ◽

pp. 1174-1175 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Leroy Cronin ◽

Sara Imari Walker

Keyword(s):

Prebiotic Chemistry

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DRAGONFLY: A ROTORCRAFT-LANDER TO EXPLORE TITAN'S PREBIOTIC CHEMISTRY AND HABITABILITY

10.1130/abs/2018am-323804 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

S.M. MacKenzie ◽

◽

Elizabeth Turtle ◽

Ralph Lorenz ◽

Jani Radebaugh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Prebiotic Chemistry

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Prebiotic Route to Thymine from Formamide—A Combined Experimental–Theoretical Study

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules26082248 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (8) ◽

pp. 2248

Author(s):

Lukáš Petera ◽

Klaudia Mrazikova ◽

Lukas Nejdl ◽

Kristyna Zemankova ◽

Marketa Vaculovicova ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Formic Acid ◽

Quantum Chemical ◽

Prebiotic Chemistry ◽

Theoretical Study ◽

Reaction Pathway ◽

Hydrolysis Product ◽

Current Paper ◽

Reaction Conditions ◽

Chemical Modeling ◽

Chemistry Research

Synthesis of RNA nucleobases from formamide is one of the recurring topics of prebiotic chemistry research. Earlier reports suggest that thymine, the substitute for uracil in DNA, may also be synthesized from formamide in the presence of catalysts enabling conversion of formamide to formaldehyde. In the current paper, we show that to a lesser extent conversion of uracil to thymine may occur even in the absence of catalysts. This is enabled by the presence of formic acid in the reaction mixture that forms as the hydrolysis product of formamide. Under the reaction conditions of our study, the disproportionation of formic acid may produce formaldehyde that hydroxymethylates uracil in the first step of the conversion process. The experiments are supplemented by quantum chemical modeling of the reaction pathway, supporting the plausibility of the mechanism suggested by Saladino and coworkers.

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