Primordial Oil Slick and the Formation of Hydrophobic Tetrapyrrole Macrocycles

The functional end products of the extant biosynthesis of tetrapyrrole macrocycles in photosynthetic organisms are hydrophobic: chlorophylls and bacteriochlorophylls. A model for the possible prebiogenesis of hydrophobic analogues of nature's photosynthetic pigments was investigated by reaction of acyclic reactants in five media: aqueous solution (pH 7, 60 degrees C, 24 h); aqueous solution containing 0.1 M decanoic acid (which forms a turbid suspension of vesicles); or aqueous solution accompanied by dodecane, mesitylene, or a five-component organic mixture (each of which forms a phase-separated organic layer). The organic mixture was composed of equimolar quantities of decanoic acid, dodecane, mesitylene, naphthalene, and pentyl acetate. The reaction of 1,5-dimethoxy-3-methylpentan-2,4-dione and 1-aminobutan-2-one to give etioporphyrinogens was enhanced in the presence of decanoic acid, affording (following chemical oxidation) etioporphyrins (tetraethyltetramethylporphyrins) in yields of 1.4-10.8% across the concentration range of 3.75-120mM. The yield of etioporphyrins was greater in the presence of the five-component organic mixture (6.6% at 120mM) versus that with dodecane or mesitylene (2.1% or 2.9%, respectively). The reaction in aqueous solution with no added oil-slick constituents resulted in phase separation-where the organic reactants themselves form an upper organic layer-and the yield of etioporphyrins was 0.5-2.6%. Analogous reactions leading to uroporphyrins (hydrophilic, eight carboxylic acids) or coproporphyrins (four carboxylic acids) were unaffected by the presence of decanoic acid or dodecane, and all yields were at most similar to 2% or similar to 8%, respectively. Taken together, the results indicate a facile means for the formation of highly hydrophobic constituents of potential value for prebiotic photosynthesis.