HCN: A plausible source of purines,pyrimidines and amino acids on the primitive earth |
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Authors: | J. P. Ferris P. C. Joshi E. H. Edelson J. G. Lawless |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Chemistry, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 12181, Troy, NY, USA 2. NASA Ames Research Center, 94035, Moffett Field, CA, USA
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Abstract: | Dilute (0.1 M) solutions of HCN condense to oligomers at pH 9.2. Hydrolysis of these oligomers yields 4,5-dihydroxypyrimidine, orotic acid, 5-hydroxyuracil, adenine, 4-aminoimidazole-5-carboxamide and amino acids. These results, together with the earlier data, demonstrate that the three main classes of nitrogen-containing biomolecules, purines, pyrimidines and amino acids may have originated from HCN on the primitive earth. The observation of orotic acid and 4-aminoimidazole-5-carboxyamide suggests that the contemporary biosynthetic pathways for nucleotides may have evolved from the compounds released on hydrolysis of HCN oligomers. |
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