ŠPONEROVÁ, Judit, Arnošt MLÁDEK, Jiří ŠPONER and Miguel FUENTES-CABRERA. Formamide-Based Prebiotic Synthesis of Nucleobases: A Kinetically Accessible Reaction Route. The Journal of Physical Chemistry A. Washington: American Chemical Society, 2012, vol. 116, No 1, p. 720-726. ISSN 1089-5639. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp209886b.
Other formats:   BibTeX LaTeX RIS
Basic information
Original name Formamide-Based Prebiotic Synthesis of Nucleobases: A Kinetically Accessible Reaction Route
Name in Czech Prebioticka synteza nukleobazi zalozena na formamidu: Kineticky dostupna reakcni draha
Authors ŠPONEROVÁ, Judit (348 Hungary, belonging to the institution), Arnošt MLÁDEK (203 Czech Republic), Jiří ŠPONER (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution) and Miguel FUENTES-CABRERA (724 Spain).
Edition The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, Washington, American Chemical Society, 2012, 1089-5639.
Other information
Original language English
Type of outcome Article in a journal
Field of Study 10403 Physical chemistry
Country of publisher United States of America
Confidentiality degree is not subject to a state or trade secret
WWW URL
Impact factor Impact factor: 2.771
RIV identification code RIV/00216224:14740/12:00057255
Organization unit Central European Institute of Technology
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jp209886b
UT WoS 000298978000076
Keywords in English CHEMICAL EVOLUTION; HYDROGEN-CYANIDE; PRIMITIVE EARTH; RING FORMATION; ADENINE; ORIGIN; PURINE; MECHANISM; ENERGIES; WATER
Tags ok, rivok
Tags International impact, Reviewed
Changed by Changed by: Olga Křížová, učo 56639. Changed: 7/4/2013 13:11.
Abstract
Synthesis of nucleobases in nonaqueous environments is an alternative way for the emergence of terrestrial life, which could solve the fundamental problem connected to the hydrolytic instability of nucleic acid components in an aqueous environment. In this contribution, we present a plausible reaction route for the prebiotic synthesis of nucleobases in formamide, which does not require participation of the formamide trimer and aminoimidazole-carbonitrile intermediates. The computed activation energy of the proposed pathway is noticeably higher than that of the HCN-based synthetic route, but it is still feasible under the experimental conditions of the Saladino synthesis. We show that, albeit both the pyrimidine and purine ring formation utilizes the undissociated form of formamide, the dehydration product of formamide, HCN, may also play a key role in the mechanism. The rate determining step of the entire reaction path is the cyclization of the diaza-pentanimine precursor. The subsequent formation of the imidazole ring proceeds with a moderate activation energy. Our calculations thus demonstrate that the experimentally suggested reaction path without the involvement of aminoimidazole-carbonitrile intermediates is also a viable alternative for the nonaqueous synthesis of nucleobases.
Links
ED1.1.00/02.0068, research and development projectName: CEITEC - central european institute of technology
GD203/09/H046, research and development projectName: Biochemie na rozcestí mezi in silico a in vitro
Investor: Czech Science Foundation
LC06030, research and development projectName: Biomolekulární centrum
Investor: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the CR, Biomolecular centre
PrintDisplayed: 26/4/2024 20:27