Prebiotic Synthesis of Simple Sugars by Photoredox Systems Chemistry
Open accessAbstract
A recent synthesis of activated pyrimidine ribonucleotides under prebiotically plausible conditions relied on mixed oxygenous and nitrogenous systems chemistry. As it stands, this synthesis provides support for the involvement of RNA in the origin of life, but such support would be considerably strengthened if the sugar building blocks for the synthesis--glycolaldehyde and glyceraldehyde--could be shown to derive from one carbon feedstock molecules using similarly mixed oxygenous and nitrogenous systems chemistry. Here, we show that these sugars can be formed from hydrogen cyanide by ultraviolet irradiation in the presence of cyanometallates in a remarkable systems chemistry process. Using copper cyanide complexes, the process operates catalytically to disproportionate hydrogen cyanide, first generating the sugars and then sequestering them as simple derivatives.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Ritson and Sutherland revealed a continuous reaction network starting from HCN that produces glycolaldehyde and glyceraldehyde driven by UV-photocatalytic irradiation of cyanocuprate complexes.
“in 2012, Ritson and Sutherland [26] revealed a more continuous reaction network starting from HCN 1 that produces glycolaldehyde 4 and glyceraldehyde 5 in a chemical process driven by UV-photocatalytic irradiation of cyanocuprate complexes”
From Prebiotic Reaction Networks in Water (2020) · cites this paper as [26]
The production of hydroxyaldehydes follows a Kiliani-Fischer homologation mechanism within a single aqueous mixture.
“The production of these hydroxyaldehydes follows a Kiliani-Fischer homologation mechanism that occurs within a single aqueous mixture.”
From Prebiotic Reaction Networks in Water (2020) · cites this paper as [26]
Irradiation of cyanocuprates photooxidises copper(I) to copper(II) generating a hydrated electron, which serves as a reducing agent.
“irradiation of the cyanocuprates photooxidises the copper(I) centres to copper(II) generating in the process a hydrated electron (eaq−), which effectively serves as a reducing agent.”
From Prebiotic Reaction Networks in Water (2020) · cites this paper as [26]
Spontaneous hydrolysis of cyanogen yields cyanate, which reacts irreversibly with both glycolaldehyde and glyceraldehyde to form oxazolidinone rings.
“Spontaneous hydrolysis of cyanogen yields cyanate, which reacts irreversibly, however, with both glycolaldehyde and glyceraldehyde to form oxazolidinone rings.”
From Prebiotic Reaction Networks in Water (2020) · cites this paper as [26]
Reversible addition of HCN to formaldehyde yields glycolonitrile, which can undergo reduction affording an imine that yields glycolaldehyde after hydrolysis.
“Reversible addition of HCN to formaldehyde yields the cyanohydrin glycolonitrile 33, which like HCN 1 can also undergo reduction affording the imine that yields glycolaldehyde 4 after hydrolysis.”
From Prebiotic Reaction Networks in Water (2020) · cites this paper as [26]
Methanimine is hydrolysed by water to formaldehyde, releasing ammonia.
“Methanimine is subsequently hydrolysed by water to form formaldehyde 3, releasing an equivalent of ammonia.”
From Prebiotic Reaction Networks in Water (2020) · cites this paper as [26]
Another round of homologation yields a racemic mixture of glyceraldehyde.
“Another round of this homologation chemistry yields a racemic mixture of glyceraldehyde 5.”
From Prebiotic Reaction Networks in Water (2020) · cites this paper as [26]
HCN is reduced to methanimine, likely via a methaniminyl radical intermediate.
“The HCN 1 in solution is then reduced to methanimine 32, likely proceeding through a methaniminyl radical intermediate.”
From Prebiotic Reaction Networks in Water (2020) · cites this paper as [26]
Copper(II) complexes oxidise HCN to cyanogen, restoring copper(I).
“Meanwhile, the copper(II) complexes oxidise HCN to cyanogen thereby restoring the initial copper(I) state.”
From Prebiotic Reaction Networks in Water (2020) · cites this paper as [26]
Gamma radiolysis generates hydrated electrons which initiate a Kiliani-Fischer-type synthesis affording production of cyanohydrins, glycolonitrile and glyceronitrile, from reversible addition of HCN to formaldehyde and glycolaldehyde.
“In the proposed mechanism, gamma radiolysis generates hydrated electrons which initiate a Kiliani-Fischer-type [26] synthesis that affords the production of the cyanohydrins, glycolonitrile and glyceronitrile 37, from the reversible addition of HCN 1 to formaldehyde 3 and glycolaldehyde, respectively.”
From Prebiotic Reaction Networks in Water (2020) · cites this paper as [26]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
The origin of the genetic code
Crick, F. H. C. (1968) · Journal of Molecular Biology · doi:10.1016/0022-2836(68)90392-6 · Cited by 2,320 · see citing works
Synthesis of activated pyrimidine ribonucleotides in prebiotically plausible conditions.
Powner, M. W., Gerland, B., & Sutherland, J. D. (2009) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature08013 · Cited by 1,383 · see citing works
Self-citationMethods of Reactivity Umpolung
Seebàch, D. (1979) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English · doi:10.1002/anie.197902393 · Cited by 1,244 · see citing works
Evolution of the genetic apparatus
Orgel, L. E. (1968) · Journal of Molecular Biology · doi:10.1016/0022-2836(68)90393-8 · Cited by 996 · see citing works
Borate Minerals Stabilize Ribose
Ricardo, A., Carrigan, M. A., Olcott, A. N., & Benner, S. A. (2004) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1092464 · Cited by 646 · see citing works
Infrared Observations of the Saturnian System from Voyager 1
Hanel, R., Conrath, B. J., Flasar, F. M., Kunde, V. G., Maguire, W., Pearl, J. C., Pirraglia, J. A., Samuelson, R. E., Herath, L. W., Allison, M., et al. (1981) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.212.4491.192 · Cited by 576 · see citing works
(1977) · Chemical & Engineering News · doi:10.1021/cen-v055n003.p034-b · Cited by 522 · see citing works
Synthesis of adenine from ammonium cyanide
Oro, J. A. (1960) · Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications · doi:10.1016/0006-291x(60)90138-8 · Cited by 482 · see citing works
HCN and chemical evolution: The possible role of cyano compounds in prebiotic synthesis
Ferris, J. P., & Hagan, W. J. (1984) · Tetrahedron · doi:10.1016/s0040-4020(01)99315-9 · Cited by 354 · see citing works
Observations of Radio Emission from Interstellar Hydrogen Cyanide
Snyder, L. E., & Bühl, D. (1971) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1086/180664 · Cited by 280 · see citing works
Prebiotic Ribose Synthesis: A Critical Analysis
Shapiro, R. (1988) · Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere · doi:10.1007/bf01808782 · Cited by 276 · see citing works
Bildung einer zuckerartigen Substanz durch Synthese
Butlerow, A. (1861) · Justus Liebigs Annalen der Chemie · doi:10.1002/jlac.18611200308 · Cited by 266 · see citing works
Chemistry of potentially prebiological natural products
Eschenmoser, A., & Loewenthal, E. (1992) · Chemical Society Reviews · doi:10.1039/cs9922100001 · Cited by 245 · see citing works
Photochemistry of transition-metal coordination compounds
Adamson, A. W., Waltz, W. L., Zinato, E., Watts, D. W., Fleischauer, P. D., & Lindholm, R. D. (1968) · Chemical Reviews · doi:10.1021/cr60255a002 · Cited by 200 · see citing works
Eschenmoser, A. (2011) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.201103672 · Cited by 192 · see citing works
Speculations on the origin and evolution of metabolism
Hartman, H. (1975) · Journal of Molecular Evolution · doi:10.1007/bf01732537 · Cited by 187 · see citing works
Ueber einen neuen aus Aldehyd ‐ Ammoniak und Blausäure entstehenden Körper
Strecker, A. (1854) · Justus Liebig s Annalen der Chemie · doi:10.1002/jlac.18540910309 · Cited by 168 · see citing works
Decker, P., Schweer, H., & Pohlamnn, R. (1982) · Journal of Chromatography A · doi:10.1016/s0021-9673(00)85692-7 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Systems chemistry on early Earth
Szostak, J. W. (2009) · Nature · doi:10.1038/459171a · Cited by 118 · see citing works
On the origin of terrestrial homochirality for nucleosides and amino acids
Breslow, R., & Cheng, Z.-L. (2009) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0904350106 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
The Origin of Life and Evolutionary Biochemistry
Dose, K., Fox, S., Deborin, G. A., & Pavlovskaya, T. E. (1974) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4684-2115-6 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
Equilibrium and kinetics of glyconitrile formation in aqueous solution
Schlesinger, G., & Miller, S. L. (1973) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · doi:10.1021/ja00792a043 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Serianni, A. S., Clark, E. L., & Barker, R. D. (1979) · Carbohydrate Research · doi:10.1016/s0008-6215(00)83925-7 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
The detection of HCN on Jupiter
Tokunaga, A. T., Beck, S. C., Geballe, T. R., Lacy, J. H., & Serabyn, E. (1981) · Icarus · doi:10.1016/0019-1035(81)90109-3 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Was ferrocyanide a prebiotic reagent?
Keefe, A. D., & Miller, S. L. (1996) · Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres · doi:10.1007/bf01809851 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Reduction von Säuren der Zuckergruppe
Fischer, E. (1889) · Berichte der deutschen chemischen Gesellschaft · doi:10.1002/cber.18890220291 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
Socha, R. F. (1981) · Journal of Catalysis · doi:10.1016/0021-9517(81)90272-4 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Archean geochemistry of formaldehyde and cyanide and the oligomerization of cyanohydrin
Arrhenius, T., Arrhenius, G., & Paplawsky, W. (1994) · Origins of life and evolution of the biosphere · doi:10.1007/bf01582036 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Behar, D., & Fessenden, R. W. (1972) · The Journal of Physical Chemistry · doi:10.1021/j100670a009 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Formation constant of the tetracyanocuprate(II) ion and the mechanism of its decomposition
片桐, 晃., Yoshimura, S., & Yoshizawa, S. (1981) · Inorganic Chemistry · doi:10.1021/ic50226a022 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Moutou, G., Taillades, J., Benefice-Malouet, S., Commeyras, A., Messina, G., & Mansani, R. (1995) · Journal of Physical Organic Chemistry · doi:10.1002/poc.610081105 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Horváth, A. K., Papp, S. J., & Décsy, Z. (1984) · Journal of Photochemistry · doi:10.1016/0047-2670(84)80015-5 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Kovács, J., Pintér, I., Lendering, U., & Köll, P. (1991) · Carbohydrate Research · doi:10.1016/0008-6215(91)80119-8 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Niketić, V., Draganić, Z. D., Nešković, S., Jovanović, S., & Draganić, I. G. (1983) · Journal of Molecular Evolution · doi:10.1007/bf02300757 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Kinetics of base hydrolysis of cyanogen and 1-cyanoformamide
Wang, Y. L., Lee, H. D., Beach, M. W., & Margerum, D. W. (1987) · Inorganic Chemistry · doi:10.1021/ic00262a022 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Sedimentary Minerals under Reducing Conditions
Orgel, L. E. (1974) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4684-2115-6_32 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
A convenient preparation of 3H‐1,3‐Oxazol‐2‐One and its N‐formyl derivative
Tavernier, D., Damme, S. V., Ricquier, P., & Anteunis, M. J. O. (1988) · Bulletin des Sociétés Chimiques Belges · doi:10.1002/bscb.19880971109 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Comets: Chemistry and chemical evolution
Donn, B. (1982) · Journal of Molecular Evolution · doi:10.1007/bf01733041 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
ChemInform Abstract: EQUILIBRIUM AND KINETICS OF GLYCONITRILE FORMATION IN AQUEOUS SOLUTION
Schlesinger, G., & Miller, S. L. (1973) · ChemInform · doi:10.1002/chin.197331122 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Common origins of RNA, protein and lipid precursors in a cyanosulfidic protometabolism
Patel, B. H., Percivalle, C., Ritson, D. J., Duffy, C. D., & Sutherland, J. D. (2015) · Nature Chemistry · doi:10.1038/nchem.2202 · Cited by 949 · see citing works
Self-citationPrebiotic Systems Chemistry: New Perspectives for the Origins of Life
Ruiz-Mirazo, K., Briones, C., & de la Escosura, A. (2014) · Chemical Reviews · doi:10.1021/cr2004844 · Cited by 930 · see citing works
The RNA World: molecular cooperation at the origins of life
Higgs, P. G., & Lehman, N. (2015) · Nature Reviews Genetics · doi:10.1038/nrg3841 · Cited by 604 · see citing works
Organic compounds on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko revealed by COSAC mass spectrometry
Goesmann, F., Rosenbauer, H., Bredehöft, J. H., Cabane, M., Ehrenfreund, P., Gautier, T., Giri, C., Krüger, H., Roy, L. L., MacDermott, A. J., et al. (2015) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aab0689 · Cited by 479 · see citing works
Origins of building blocks of life: A review
Kitadai, N., & Maruyama, S. (2018) · Geoscience Frontiers · doi:10.1016/j.gsf.2017.07.007 · Cited by 464 · see citing works
The Origin of Life—Out of the Blue
Sutherland, J. D. (2016) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.201506585 · Cited by 401 · see citing works
Self-citationNonenzymatic Metabolic Reactions and Life’s Origins
Muchowska, K. B., Varma, S. J., & Moran, J. (2020) · Chemical Reviews · doi:10.1021/acs.chemrev.0c00191 · Cited by 317 · see citing works
Non-Enzymatic Glycolysis and Pentose Phosphate Pathway-Like Reactions in a Plausible Archean Ocean
Keller, M. A., Turchyn, A. V., & Ralser, M. (2014) · Molecular Systems Biology · doi:10.1002/msb.20145228 · Cited by 242 · see citing works
How to Characterize Habitable Worlds and Signs of Life
Kaltenegger, L. (2017) · Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics · doi:10.1146/annurev-astro-082214-122238 · Cited by 245 · see citing works
Towards an evolutionary theory of the origin of life based on kinetics and thermodynamics
Pascal, R., Pross, A., & Sutherland, J. D. (2013) · Open Biology · doi:10.1098/rsob.130156 · Cited by 228 · see citing works
Self-citationTHE MUSCLES TREASURY SURVEY. III. X-RAY TO INFRARED SPECTRA OF 11 M AND K STARS HOSTING PLANETS
Loyd, R. O. P., France, K., Youngblood, A. A., Schneider, C., Brown, A., Hu, R., Linsky, J., Froning, C. S., Redfield, S., Rugheimer, S., et al. (2016) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.3847/0004-637x/824/2/102 · Cited by 233 · see citing works
Opinion: Studies on the origin of life — the end of the beginning
Sutherland, J. D. (2017) · Nature Reviews Chemistry · doi:10.1038/s41570-016-0012 · Cited by 225 · see citing works
Self-citationUV-light-driven prebiotic synthesis of iron-sulfur clusters
Bonfio, C., Valer, L., Scintilla, S., Shah, S., Evans, D. J., Jin, L., Szostak, J. W., Sasselov, D. D., Sutherland, J. D., & Mansy, S. S. (2017) · Nature Chemistry · doi:10.1038/nchem.2817 · Cited by 158 · see citing works
Self-citationSynthetic connectivity, emergence, and self-regeneration in the network of prebiotic chemistry
Wołos, A., Roszak, R., Żądło‐Dobrowolska, A., Beker, W., Mikulak-Klucznik, B., Spólnik, G., Dygas, M., Szymkuć, S., & Grzybowski, B. A. (2020) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aaw1955 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Prebiotic Systems Chemistry: Complexity Overcoming Clutter
Islam, S., & Powner, M. W. (2017) · Chem · doi:10.1016/j.chempr.2017.03.001 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
Influence of the UV Environment on the Synthesis of Prebiotic Molecules
Ranjan, S., & Sasselov, D. D. (2016) · Astrobiology · doi:10.1089/ast.2015.1359 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
Ranjan, S., Wordsworth, R., & Sasselov, D. D. (2017) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aa773e · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Xu, J., Tsanakopoulou, M., Magnani, C. J., Szabla, R., Šponer, J. E., Šponer, J., Góra, R. W., & Sutherland, J. D. (2017) · Nature Chemistry · doi:10.1038/nchem.2664 · Cited by 133 · see citing works
Self-citationUV SURFACE ENVIRONMENT OF EARTH-LIKE PLANETS ORBITING FGKM STARS THROUGH GEOLOGICAL EVOLUTION
Rugheimer, S., Segura, A., Kaltenegger, L., & Sasselov, D. (2015) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.1088/0004-637x/806/1/137 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
Photochemical Reductive Homologation of Hydrogen Cyanide Using Sulfite and Ferrocyanide
Xu, J., Ritson, D. J., Ranjan, S., Todd, Z. R., Sasselov, D. D., & Sutherland, J. D. (2018) · Chemical Communications · doi:10.1039/c8cc01499j · Cited by 121 · see citing works
Self-citationYoungblood, A., France, K., Loyd, R. O. P., Brown, A., Mason, J. P., Schneider, P. C., Tilley, M. A., Berta-Thompson, Z. K., Buccino, A., Froning, C. S., et al. (2017) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aa76dd · Cited by 123 · see citing works
An appeal to magic? The discovery of a non-enzymatic metabolism and its role in the origins of life
Ralser, M. (2018) · Biochemical Journal · doi:10.1042/bcj20160866 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
A Survey of CH3CN and HC3N in Protoplanetary Disks
Bergner, J. B., Guzmán, V. V., Öberg, K. I., Loomis, R. A., & Pegues, J. (2018) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aab664 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Sunlight as an energetic driver in the synthesis of molecules necessary for life
Rapf, R. J., & Vaida, V. (2016) · Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics · doi:10.1039/c6cp00980h · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Formation of Glycerol through Hydrogenation of CO Ice under Prestellar Core Conditions
Fedoseev, G., Chuang, K.-J., Ioppolo, S., Qasim, D., van Dishoeck, E. F., & Linnartz, H. (2017) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aa74dc · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Hydrogen cyanide in nitrogen-rich atmospheres of rocky exoplanets
Rimmer, P., & Rugheimer, S. (2019) · Icarus (New York, N.Y. 1962) · doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2019.02.020 · Cited by 99 · see citing works
Keller, M. A., Zylstra, A., Castro, C., Turchyn, A. V., Griffin, J. L., & Ralser, M. (2016) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.1501235 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Synthesis of aldehydic ribonucleotide and amino acid precursors by photoredox chemistry
Ritson, D. J., & Sutherland, J. D. (2013) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.201300321 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Self-citationInsights Into the Origin of Life: Did It Begin from HCN and H2O?
Das, T., Ghule, S., & Vanka, K. (2019) · ACS Central Science · doi:10.1021/acscentsci.9b00520 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Illuminating Life’s Origins: UV Photochemistry in Abiotic Synthesis of Biomolecules
Green, N. J., Xu, J., & Sutherland, J. D. (2021) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · doi:10.1021/jacs.1c01839 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Self-citationSulfidic Anion Concentrations on Early Earth for Surficial Origins-of-Life Chemistry
Ranjan, S., Todd, Z. R., Sutherland, J. D., & Sasselov, D. D. (2018) · Astrobiology · doi:10.1089/ast.2017.1770 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
Self-citationThe High-energy Radiation Environment around a 10 Gyr M Dwarf: Habitable at Last?
France, K., Duvvuri, G. M., Egan, H., Koskinen, T., Wilson, D. J., Youngblood, A., Froning, C. S., Brown, A., Alvarado‐Gómez, J. D., Berta-Thompson, Z. K., et al. (2020) · The Astronomical Journal · doi:10.3847/1538-3881/abb465 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Mineral-mediated carbohydrate synthesis by mechanical forces in a primordial geochemical setting
Haas, M., Lamour, S., Christ, S. B., & Trapp, O. (2020) · Communications Chemistry · doi:10.1038/s42004-020-00387-w · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Astrobiology and the Possibility of Life on Earth and Elsewhere…
Cottin, H., Kotler, J. M., Bartik, K., Cleaves, H. J., Cockell, C. S., Vera, J.-P. P. D., Ehrenfreund, P., Leuko, S., ten Kate, I. L., Martins, Z., et al. (2015) · Space Science Reviews · doi:10.1007/s11214-015-0196-1 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Constraints on the Early Terrestrial Surface UV Environment Relevant to Prebiotic Chemistry
Ranjan, S., & Sasselov, D. D. (2017) · Astrobiology · doi:10.1089/ast.2016.1519 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Origin of Life’s Building Blocks in Carbon- and Nitrogen-Rich Surface Hydrothermal Vents
Rimmer, P. B., & Shorttle, O. (2019) · Life · doi:10.3390/life9010012 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Formation of Glycerol through Hydrogenation of CO Ice under Prestellar Core Conditions
Fedoseev, G., Chuang, K.-J., Ioppolo, S., Qasim, D., van Dishoeck, E. F., & Linnartz, H. (2017) · Leiden Repository (Leiden University) · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Hawkins, K., Patterson, A. K., Clarke, P. A., & Smith, D. K. (2020) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · doi:10.1021/jacs.9b13156 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Gas-phase sugar formation using hydroxymethylene as the reactive formaldehyde isomer
Eckhardt, A. K., Linden, M. M., Wende, R. C., Bernhardt, B., & Schreiner, P. R. (2018) · Nature Chemistry · doi:10.1038/s41557-018-0128-2 · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Emergence of the First Catalytic Oligonucleotides in a Formamide-Based Origin Scenario.
Šponer, J. E., Sponer, J., Novakova, O., Brabec, V., Šedo, O., Zdráhal, Z., Costanzo, G., Pino, S., Saladino, R., & di Mauro, E. (2016) · Chemistry · doi:10.1002/chem.201503906 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Xu, J., Green, N. J., Gibard, C., Krishnamurthy, R., & Sutherland, J. D. (2019) · Nature Chemistry · doi:10.1038/s41557-019-0225-x · Cited by 80 · see citing works
Self-citationSequence-Dependent Guest Release Triggered by Orthogonal Chemical Signals
Castilla, A. M., Ronson, T. K., & Nitschke, J. R. (2016) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · doi:10.1021/jacs.5b13016 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Ebisuzaki, T., & Maruyama, S. (2017) · Geoscience Frontiers · doi:10.1016/j.gsf.2016.09.005 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
The High-energy Radiation Environment around a 10 Gyr M Dwarf: Habitable at Last?
France, K., Duvvuri, G., Egan, H., Koskinen, T., Wilson, D. J., Youngblood, A., Froning, C. S., Berta-Thompson, Z. K., Alvarado‐Gómez, J. D., Berta Thompson, Z. K., et al. (2020) · CONICET Digital (CONICET) · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Zhang, S. J., Duzdevich, D., Ding, D., & Szostak, J. W. (2022) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2116429119 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Šponer, J. E., Szabla, R., Góra, R., Saitta, A. M., Pietrucci, F., Saija, F., di Mauro, E., Saladino, R., Ferus, M., Civiš, S., et al. (2016) · Physical Chemistry, Chemical Physics - PCCP · doi:10.1039/c6cp00670a · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Formation of Glyoxylic Acid in Interstellar Ices: A Key Entry Point for Prebiotic Chemistry
Eckhardt, A. K., Bergantini, A., Singh, S. K., Schreiner, P. R., & Kaiser, R. I. (2019) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.201901059 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Colloquium: Physical constraints for the evolution of life on exoplanets
Lingam, M., & Loeb, A. (2019) · Reviews of Modern Physics · doi:10.1103/revmodphys.91.021002 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Prebiotic Chemistry: Geochemical Context and Reaction Screening
Cleaves, H. J. (2013) · Life · doi:10.3390/life3020331 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Synthesis of ( d )-erythrose from glycolaldehyde aqueous solutions under electric field
Cassone, G., Šponer, J., Šponer, J. E., Pietrucci, F., Saitta, A. M., & Saija, F. (2018) · Chemical Communications · doi:10.1039/c8cc00045j · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Cometary Delivery of Hydrogen Cyanide to the Early Earth
Todd, Z. R., & Öberg, K. (2020) · Astrobiology · doi:10.1089/ast.2019.2187 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
Environmental Adaptation from the Origin of Life to the Last Universal Common Ancestor
Cantine, M. D., & Fournier, G. P. (2018) · Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres · doi:10.1007/s11084-017-9542-5 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamic Foundations of the Origin of Life
Michaelian, K. (2022) · Foundations · doi:10.3390/foundations2010022 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Chemical reservoir computation in a self-organizing reaction network
Baltussen, M. G., de Jong, T. J., Duez, Q., Robinson, W. E., & Huck, W. T. S. (2024) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07567-x · Cited by 62 · see citing works
A Comprehensive Review of HCN-Derived Polymers
Ruiz-Bermejo, M., de la Fuente, J. L., Pérez-Fernández, C., & Mateo-Martí, E. (2021) · Processes · doi:10.3390/pr9040597 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Chiral encoding may provide a simple solution to the origin of life
Brewer, A., & Davis, A. P. (2014) · Nature Chemistry · doi:10.1038/nchem.1981 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Modulation of Reactivity in the Cavity of Liposomes Promotes the Formation of Peptide Bonds
Grochmal, A., Prout, L., Makin-Taylor, R., Prohens, R., & Tomàs, S. (2015) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · doi:10.1021/jacs.5b06207 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Abiotic and Biotic Formation of Amino Acids in the Enceladus Ocean
Steel, E. L., Dávila, A. F., & McKay, C. P. (2017) · Astrobiology · doi:10.1089/ast.2017.1673 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Cyanide as a primordial reductant enables a protometabolic reductive glyoxylate pathway
Yadav, M., Pulletikurti, S., Yerabolu, J. R., & Krishnamurthy, R. (2022) · Nature Chemistry · doi:10.1038/s41557-021-00878-w · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Proton irradiation: a key to the challenge of N-glycosidic bond formation in a prebiotic context
Saladino, R., Bizzarri, B. M., Botta, L., Šponer, J., Šponer, J. E., Georgelin, T., Jaber, M., Rigaud, B., Kapralov, M. I., Тимошенко, Г. Н., et al. (2017) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-017-15392-8 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
A Continuous Reaction Network that Produces RNA Precursors
Yi, R., Tran, Q. P., Ali, S., Yoda, I., Adam, Z. R., Cleaves, H. J., & Fahrenbach, A. C. (2020) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1922139117 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Spectroscopic Evidence for Aminomethylene (H−C−NH2)—The Simplest Amino Carbene
Eckhardt, A. K., & Schreiner, P. R. (2018) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.201800679 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Prebiotic Sugar Formation Under Nonaqueous Conditions and Mechanochemical Acceleration
Lamour, S., Pallmann, S., Haas, M., & Trapp, O. (2019) · Life · doi:10.3390/life9020052 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Maguire, O. R., Smokers, I. B. A., & Huck, W. T. S. (2021) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-021-25555-x · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Molecular Precursors of the RNA-World in Space: New Nitriles in the G+0.693−0.027 Molecular Cloud
Rivilla, V. M., Jiménez-Serra, I., Martín-Pintado, J., Colzi, L., Tercero, B., de Vicente, P., Zeng, S., Martín, S., de la Concepción, J. G., Bizzocchi, L., et al. (2022) · Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences · doi:10.3389/fspas.2022.876870 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Identification of Glycolaldehyde Enol (HOHC═CHOH) in Interstellar Analogue Ices.
Kleimeier, N., Eckhardt, A., & Kaiser, R. (2021) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · doi:10.1021/jacs.1c07978 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Andersen, J., Andersen, T., Flamm, C., Hanczyc, M., Merkle, D., & Stadler, P. (2013) · Entropy · doi:10.3390/e15104066 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Llabres-Campaner, P. J., Ballesteros‐Garrido, R., Ballesteros‐Garrido, R., & Abarca, B. (2017) · The Journal of Organic Chemistry · doi:10.1021/acs.joc.7b02722 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Microscopic dissipative structuring and proliferation at the origin of life
Michaelian, K. (2017) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2017.e00424 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
The “Water Problem”(sic), the Illusory Pond and Life’s Submarine Emergence—A Review
Russell, M. J. (2021) · Life · doi:10.3390/life11050429 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Potentially Prebiotic Activation Chemistry Compatible with Nonenzymatic RNA Copying
Zhang, S. J., Duzdevich, D., & Szostak, J. W. (2020) · Journal of the American Chemical Society · doi:10.1021/jacs.0c05300 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Atmospheric Production of Glycolaldehyde Under Hazy Prebiotic Conditions
Harman, C. E., Kasting, J. F., & Wolf, E. T. (2013) · Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres · doi:10.1007/s11084-013-9332-7 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
UV photostability of three 2-aminoazoles with key roles in prebiotic chemistry on the early earth
Todd, Z. R., Szabla, R., Szostak, J. W., & Sasselov, D. D. (2019) · Chemical Communications · doi:10.1039/c9cc05265h · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Generic strategies for chemical space exploration
Andersen, J. L., Christoph Flamm, A., Merkle, D., & Stadler, P. F. (2014) · International Journal of Computational Biology and Drug Design · doi:10.1504/ijcbdd.2014.061649 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Der Ursprung des Lebens: Blausäure
Sutherland, J. D. (2015) · Angewandte Chemie · doi:10.1002/ange.201506585 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Self-citationLee, C., Weber, J. M., Rodriguez, L. E., Sheppard, R. Y., Barge, L. M., Berger, E. L., & Burton, A. S. (2022) · Symmetry · doi:10.3390/sym14030460 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Timescales for Prebiotic Photochemistry Under Realistic Surface Ultraviolet Conditions
Rimmer, P. B., Thompson, S. J., Xu, J., Russell, D. A., Green, N. J., Ritson, D. J., Sutherland, J. D., & Queloz, D. P. (2021) · Astrobiology · doi:10.1089/ast.2020.2335 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Self-citationReduced Atmospheres of Post-impact Worlds: The Early Earth
Itcovitz, J., Rae, A. S. P., Citron, R., Stewart, S. T., Sinclair, C. A., Rimmer, P. B., & Shorttle, O. (2022) · The Planetary Science Journal · doi:10.3847/psj/ac67a9 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Todd, Z. R. (2022) · Life · doi:10.3390/life12081268 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Youngblood, A. A., France, K. C., Loyd, R. O. P., Brown, A., Mason, J. P., Schneider, P. C., Tilley, M., Berta-Thompson, Z. K., Buccino, A. P., Froning, C. S., et al. (2017) · Americanae (AECID Library) · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Prebiotic Reaction Networks in Water
Tran, Q. P., Adam, Z. R., & Fahrenbach, A. C. (2020) · Life · doi:10.3390/life10120352 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Compartmentalised chemistry: from studies on the origin of life to engineered biochemical systems
Urban, P. L. (2014) · New Journal of Chemistry · doi:10.1039/c4nj00894d · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Conversion of Biosynthetic Precursors of RNA to Those of DNA by Photoredox Chemistry
Ritson, D. J., & Sutherland, J. D. (2014) · Journal of Molecular Evolution · doi:10.1007/s00239-014-9617-0 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Self-citationSchreibersite: an effective catalyst in the formose reaction network
Pallmann, S., Šteflová, J., Haas, M., Lamour, S., Henß, A., & Trapp, O. (2018) · New Journal of Physics · doi:10.1088/1367-2630/aabb99 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
The Dissipative Photochemical Origin of Life: UVC Abiogenesis of Adenine
Michaelian, K. (2021) · Entropy · doi:10.3390/e23020217 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Radiolysis generates a complex organosynthetic chemical network
Adam, Z. R., Fahrenbach, A. C., Jacobson, S. M., Kaçar, B., & Zubarev, D. Y. (2021) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-021-81293-6 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Radiolysis Generates a Complex Organosynthetic Chemical Network
Adam, Z., Fahrenbach, A. C., Jacobson, S. M., Kacar, B., & Zubarev, D. Y. (2019) · doi:10.26434/chemrxiv.10148684 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Rimmer, P. B., Ferus, M., Waldmann, I. P., Knížek, A., Kalvaitis, D., Ivanek, O., Kubelík, P., Yurchenko, S. N., Burian, T., Dostál, J., et al. (2020) · The Astrophysical Journal · doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab55e8 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Stabilization of ribofuranose by a mineral surface
Georgelin, T., Jaber, M., Fournier, F., Laurent, G. P., Costa‐Torro, F., Maurel, M., & Lambert, J. (2014) · Carbohydrate Research · doi:10.1016/j.carres.2014.07.018 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Mimicking lightning-induced electrochemistry on the early Earth
Jiang, H. J., Underwood, T. C., Bell, J. G., Lei, J., Gonzales, J. C., Emge, L., Tadese, L. G., El-Rahman, M. K. A., Wilmouth, D. M., Brazaca, L. C., et al. (2024) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2400819121 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Is life most likely around Sun-like stars?
Lingam, M., & Loeb, A. (2018) · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics · doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2018/05/020 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Mojarro, A., Hachey, J., Bailey, R., Brown, M. J., Doebler, R. W., Ruvkun, G., Zuber, M. T., & Carr, C. E. (2019) · Astrobiology · doi:10.1089/ast.2018.1929 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Sunlight-initiated Chemistry of Aqueous Pyruvic Acid: Building Complexity in the Origin of Life
Griffith, E. C., Shoemaker, R. L., & Vaida, V. (2013) · Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres · doi:10.1007/s11084-013-9349-y · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Todd, Z. R., Fahrenbach, A. C., Magnani, C. J., Ranjan, S., Björkbom, A., Szostak, J. W., & Sasselov, D. D. (2018) · Chemical Communications · doi:10.1039/c7cc07748c · Cited by 29 · see citing works
UV-driven chemistry as a signpost of late-stage planet formation
Calahan, J. K., Bergin, E. A., Bosman, A. D., Rich, E. A., Andrews, S. M., Bergner, J. B., Cleeves, L. I., Guzmán, V. V., Huang, J., Ilee, J. D., et al. (2022) · Nature Astronomy · doi:10.1038/s41550-022-01831-8 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Vinogradoff, V., Leyva, V., Mates‐Torres, E., Pepino, R., Danger, G., Rimola, A., Cazals, L., Serra, C., Pascal, R., & Meinert, C. (2023) · Earth and Planetary Science Letters · doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118558 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Saha, A., Yi, R., Fahrenbach, A. C., Wang, A., & Jia, T. Z. (2022) · Life · doi:10.3390/life12101595 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Constraints on a potential aerial biosphere on Venus: II. Ultraviolet radiation
Patel, M. R., Mason, J. P., Nordheim, T. A., & Dartnell, L. R. (2021) · Icarus · doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114796 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
The ultraviolet habitable zone of exoplanets
Spinelli, R., Borsa, F., Ghirlanda, G., Ghisellini, G., & Haardt, F. (2023) · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society · doi:10.1093/mnras/stad928 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Sutton, S. M., Pulletikurti, S., Lin, H., Krishnamurthy, R., & Liotta, C. L. (2025) · Chem · doi:10.1016/j.chempr.2025.102553 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
- Authors
- Ritson, D., & Sutherland, J. D.
- Affiliations
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Sutherland, John D.
- Venue
- Nature Chemistry
- Published
- 2012-09-30
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 895-899
- ISSN
- 1755-4330 (ISSN-L)
- 1755-4349
- PMC
- PMC3589744
- OpenAlex
- W2040480490
- Cited by
- 258
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 10
- FWCI
- 6.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature Chemistry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/H044140/1)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Organic Chemistry › Radical Photochemical Reactions
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Organic Chemistry › Carbohydrate Chemistry and Synthesis
- Keywords
- prebiotic synthesis, monosaccharides, glycolaldehyde, glyceraldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, photoredox catalysis, copper cyanide complexes, cyanocuprates, cyanide complexes, origin of life, RNA, one-carbon feedstocks, UV irradiation
- MeSH terms
- Carbohydrates, Hydrogen Cyanide, Oxidation-Reduction, Photochemical Processes, Prebiotics, Chemistry Techniques, Synthetic
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
