Abiotic synthesis with plausible emergence for primitive phospholipid in aqueous microdroplets

Phospholipids are the protective layer of modern cells, but it is challenging for the formation of phospho-lipids that require a simple abiotic synthesis before the advent of primitive cells. Here, we reported the abiotic synthesis for lysophosphatidic acids (LPAs) with prebiotically plausible reactants in aqueous microdroplets under ambient conditions. The LPAs formation is carried out by fusing two microdroplets streams: one contains glycerol and pyrophosphate in water and the other one contains fatty acids in ace-tonitrile. Compared with the bulk solution, LPAs were generated in microdroplets without the addition of catalyst and heating. Conditions of reactant concentrations and microdroplet size varied and suggested that LPAs formation occurred near or at the microdroplet surface. The LPAs formation also showed chemoselective toward on chain-length of fatty acids. Finally, the formation of LPAs underwent two-step reactions with glycerol phosphorylation eliminating one water molecule followed by esterification with fatty acids. These results also implicated that pyrophosphate functioned as both catalysts and pre-cursors in prebiotic LPAs synthesis. The approach using fusion aqueous microdroplets has desirable fea-tures in studying the substance exchange and interaction in atmosphere.(c) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study reports the abiotic synthesis of lysophosphatidic acids (LPAs) using prebiotically plausible reactants in aqueous microdroplets under ambient conditions. The formation of LPAs occurred near or at the microdroplet surface and showed chemoselectivity towards the chain-length of fatty acids. The results also suggest that pyrophosphate served as both catalyst and precursor in prebiotic LPAs synthesis.