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Prebiotic Adenine Revisited: Eutectics and Photochemistry
Abstract
Recent studies support an earlier suggestion that, if adenine was formed prebiotically on the primitive earth, eutectic freezing of hydrogen cyanide solutions is likely to have been important. Here we revisit the suggestion that the synthesis of adenine may have involved the photochemical conversion of the tetramer of hydrogen cyanide in eutectic solution to 4-amino-5-cyano-imidazole. This would make possible a reaction sequence that does not require the presence of free ammonia. It is further suggested that the reaction of cyanoacetylene with cyanate in eutectic solution to give cytosine might have proceeded in parallel with adenine synthesis.
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The free nucleobases potentially could have formed from either HCN or formamide.
“The free nucleobases, meanwhile, potentially could have formed from either HCN 1 [70,100] or formamide [101].”
From Prebiotic Reaction Networks in Water (2020) · cites this paper as [100]
Citations
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Prebiotic chemistry and the origin of the RNA world.
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Prebiotic Systems Chemistry: New Perspectives for the Origins of Life
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“Such proposed settings include oceans or ponds of organic soup stocked either by ultraviolet light-dependent organic synthesis [2] or by organics delivered from space [3]; borate evaporites [4]; terrestrial zinc-rich hydrothermal settings [5]; ice [6] or pumice [7]—to name but a few.”
BackgroundThe Importance of Water for Life
Westall, F., & Brack, A. (2018) · Space Science Reviews · doi:10.1007/s11214-018-0476-7 · Cited by 208
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Saladino, R., Barontini, M., Cossetti, C., Di Mauro, E., & Crestini, C. (2011) · Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres · doi:10.1007/s11084-011-9236-3 · Cited by 54
Prebiotic Reaction Networks in Water
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Metadata
- Authors
- Orgel, L. E.
- Affiliations
- Salk Institute for Biological Studies (US)
- Corresponding author
- Orgel, Leslie E.
- Venue
- Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere
- Published
- 2004-08
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 361-369
- ISSN
- 0169-6149 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-0875
- OpenAlex
- W2088629209
- Cited by
- 61
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 5 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 2.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres (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
- hydrogen cyanide, photochemistry, HC3N, cyanate, early Earth
- MeSH terms
- Adenine, Freezing, Hydrogen Cyanide, Photochemistry, Pyrimidines, Solutions, Molecular Structure
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