Prebiotic adenine synthesis via HCN oligomerization in ice
Abstract
Adenine is produced (after hydrolysis) when 0.01 M solutions of HCN are adjusted to pH 9.2 with NH4OH and are frozen at -2 degrees C for 60-100 days. The addition of glycolonitrile (the cyanohydrin of formaldehyde) increases the yield of adenine under these conditions by about five-fold. These results confirm and extend an earlier suggestion that purine synthesis on the prebiotic Earth might have occurred in frozen, dilute solutions of HCN.
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Hydrogen cyanide oligomers may have played a significant role in the synthesis of a wide range of prebiotic molecules.
“For example, hydrogen cyanide (HCN) oligomers may have played a significant role in the synthesis of a wide range of prebiotic molecules [122-126], and recently, dimeric forms of HCN (cyanomethanimine) [127] have been detected in the interstellar medium.”
From The future of quantum biology (2018) · cites this paper as [124]
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- Authors
- Schwartz, A. W., Joosten, H., & Voet, A. B.
- Affiliations
- Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
- Venue
- Biosystems
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1982-01
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 191-193
- ISSN
- 0303-2647 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1999782842
- Cited by
- 68
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 4.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Biosystems (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
- Keywords
- adenine synthesis, prebiotic chemistry, hydrogen cyanide, ice, frozen solutions, purine biosynthesis, origin of life, amino acid synthesis
- MeSH terms
- Adenine, Freezing, Hydrogen Cyanide, Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
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