Accumulation of formamide in hydrothermal pores to form prebiotic nucleobases
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Significance: The aim of this article is to show that prebiotic nucleobases can be formed in hydrothermal pores, through a significant accumulation of formamide resulting from a combination of thermophoresis and convection. We performed numerical finite element calculations for initial formamide concentrations that correspond to early Earth shallow lake conditions and reveal that formamide accumulates at the bottom of hydrothermal pores in about 45–90 d to high concentrated formamide solutions. The conclusion from these findings is that the combination of thermophoretic mass transport and convection is the missing link, which makes the synthesis of prebiotic nucleobases in porous rocks in contact with shallow lakes under early-earth conditions possible.
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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.”
From The protometabolic nature of prebiotic chemistry (2023) · cites this paper as [88]
Formamide allows different mechanisms for concentration in aqueous solution, which is crucial to favour condensation/oligomerization reactions rather than hydrolysis.
“Second, it allows different mechanisms for concentration in aqueous solution, which is crucial to favour condensation/oligomerization reactions rather than hydrolysis.88”
From The protometabolic nature of prebiotic chemistry (2023) · cites this paper as [88]
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References 49 · Cited by 88
- Authors
- Niether, D., Afanasenkau, D., Dhont, J. K. G., & Wiegand, S.
- Affiliations
- Forschungszentrum Jülich (DE)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2016-04-04
- Volume
- 113
- Issue
- 16
- Pages
- 4272-4277
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC4843465
- OpenAlex
- W2337409349
- Cited by
- 88
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 9
- FWCI
- 7.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Kölner Universitäts PublikationsServer (Universität zu Köln) (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- European Commission (262348)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Computational Mechanics › Field-Flow Fractionation Techniques
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
- Keywords
- formamide, thermophoresis, convection, temperature gradient, origin of life, pore aspect ratio, nucleotide synthesis
- MeSH terms
- Origin of Life, DNA, Formamides, Nucleotides, Hydrothermal Vents
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