TRANSITION METAL SULFIDES AND THE ORIGINS OF METABOLISM
Abstract
▪ Abstract The history of the theory and experimental evidence that the natural catalytic and reactive qualities of transition metal sulfides are linked to primitive metabolism is reviewed. In the late 1980s, a hypothesis arose that proposed that transition metal sulfides (in particular pyrrhotite and pyrite) might play a significant role promoting abiotic organic chemistry. As an outgrowth of this hypothesis, elaborate theories were presented, including proposals for earliest life being structurally distinct from extant prokaryotic life. During the 1990s and into the twenty-first century, experimental evidence has emerged that supports certain aspects of these theories; in other cases, the experiments reveal chemistry that diverges significantly from that which was proposed theoretically. In either case, however, there is clear evidence that transition metal sulfide minerals exhibit catalytic qualities for the promotion of reactions that have obvious metabolic utility and, therefore, could have provided the primitive Earth with valuable biochemical intermediates.
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The catalysis was provided by the transition metals and transition metal sulfides themselves of the hydrothermal mound.
“The catalysis was provided by the transition metals and transition metal sulfides themselves of the hydrothermal mound.”
From Early bioenergetic evolution (2013) · cites this paper as [51]
Provided that transition metals in a hydrothermal vent could catalyse similar reactions as in the laboratory, there would be a route for sustained geochemical synthesis of acetyl thioesters.
“Provided that transition metals in a hydrothermal vent could catalyse similar reactions as in the laboratory [51], then one would have, in principle, a route for sustained geochemical synthesis of acetyl thioesters (among many other products).”
From Early bioenergetic evolution (2013) · cites this paper as [51]
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“Provided that transitionmetals in a hydrothermal vent could catalyse similar reactions as in the laboratory [51], then one would have, in principle, a route for sustained geochemical synthesis of acetyl thioesters (among many other products).”
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“…available on prebiotic Earth include naturally occurring minerals such as clays (Meng et al., 2004; Ferris, 2005), zeolite (Smith, 1998, 2005; Munsch et al., 2001), sulfides (Wächtershäuser, 1988, 1990; Cody, 2004; Roldan et al., 2015), and calcite (Hazen et al., 2001; Hazen and Sholl, 2003).”
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- Authors
- Cody, G. D.
- Affiliations
- Carnegie Institution for Science (US)
- Corresponding author
- Cody, George D.
- ORCID
- Cody, George D.
- Venue
- Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences
- Publisher
- Annual Reviews
- Published
- 2004-05-19
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 569-599
- ISSN
- 0084-6597 (ISSN-L)
- 1545-4495
- OpenAlex
- W2137784892
- Cited by
- 174
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 0.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geochemistry and Petrology › Geochemistry and Elemental Analysis
- Keywords
- transition metal sulfides, pyrrhotite, pyrite, catalysis, early Earth, prebiotic chemistry
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