Described are our preliminary studies on the reactivity of thiophosphate in a setting which correlates with the cyanosulfidic systems chemistry we have previously reported. Thiophosphate adds to various nitrile groups giving the corresponding thioamides in a highly efficient manner and the mechanistic implications are briefly discussed. Thiophosphate can also act as a phosphorylating agent, which was
Common origins of RNA, protein and lipid precursors in a cyanosulfidic protometabolism
作者:Bhavesh H. Patel、Claudia Percivalle、Dougal J. Ritson、Colm D. Duffy、John D. Sutherland
DOI:10.1038/nchem.2202
日期:2015.4
A minimal cell can be thought of as comprising informational, compartment-forming and metabolic subsystems. To imagine the abiotic assembly of such an overall system, however, places great demands on hypothetical prebiotic chemistry. The perceived differences and incompatibilities between these subsystems have led to the widely held assumption that one or other subsystem must have preceded the others. Here we experimentally investigate the validity of this assumption by examining the assembly of various biomolecular building blocks from prebiotically plausible intermediates and one-carbon feedstock molecules. We show that precursors of ribonucleotides, amino acids and lipids can all be derived by the reductive homologation of hydrogen cyanide and some of its derivatives, and thus that all the cellular subsystems could have arisen simultaneously through common chemistry. The key reaction steps are driven by ultraviolet light, use hydrogen sulfide as the reductant and can be accelerated by Cu(I)âCu(II) photoredox cycling. A minimal cell â one that has all the minimum requirements for life â is still a complex entity comprising informational, compartment-forming and metabolic subsystems. Here it is shown that, contrary to previous assumptions, a common prebiotically plausible chemistry can give rise to building blocks for all the subsystems.