Formamide reaction network in gas phase and solution via a unified theoretical approach: Toward a reconciliation of different prebiotic scenarios

Formamide and HCN are interconnected through a hydrolytic/dehydration process, which could have allowed alternating between both through a cycling physical process such as wetting-drying cycles.

“Their methods of synthesis, abundance in the universe and reactivities are actually similar, mostly because they are interconnected through a hydrolytic/dehydration process (see Scheme 6),86 which could have allowed alternating between both through some kind of cycling physical process (e.g., wetting-drying cycles as a consequences of geological events).”

Compared with HCN, formamide yields a wider variety of prebiotic biomolecules because the presence of oxygen allows an interplay of oxygenous and nitrogenous reactive species that is not possible in HCN oligomerization alone.

“In comparison to the chemistry of HCN, the reasons why formamide yields a wider variety of prebiotic biomolecules are diverse.84–89 The presence of oxygen in its structure allows an interplay of oxygenous and nitrogenous reactive species that is not possible in the HCN oligomerization alone.”