Journal
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR EVOLUTION
Volume 71, Issue 2, Pages 100-110Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s00239-010-9366-7
Keywords
Formamide; Zirconium derivatives; Purines; Pyrimidines; Carboxylic acids; Nucleic acids stability
Funding
- Italian Space Agency
- ASI-INAF [I/015/07/0]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
We describe the one-pot synthesis of a large variety of nucleic acid bases and related compounds from formamide in the presence of zirconium minerals as catalysts. The major products observed are: purine, 2-hydroxy pyrimidine, 5-hydroxy pyrimidine, isocytosine, adenine, urea, and carbodiimide. The synthesis of low molecular weight amides and carboxylic acid derivatives (intermediates of extant metabolism) was also observed: glyoxylamide, glycolic-, lactic-, succinic-, oxalic-, fumaric-, and maleic acids. As the major problem in the origin of informational polymers is the instability of their precursors, we also investigated the effects of zirconia minerals on the stability of ribooligonucleotides in formamide and in water. The relevance of these findings with respect to the origin of informational polymers and primordial metabolism is discussed.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available