Open AccessPhotoreduction of carbon dioxide by aqueous ferrous ion: An alternative to the strongly reducing atmosphere for the chemical origin of life
Author(s) -
Zofia Borowska,
D. Mauzerall
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.85.18.6577
Subject(s) - ferrous , carbon dioxide , chemistry , aqueous solution , photochemistry , quantum yield , bicarbonate , ion , carbon fibers , inorganic chemistry , carbon monoxide , hydrogen , molecule , formaldehyde , organic chemistry , materials science , catalysis , physics , quantum mechanics , composite number , composite material , fluorescence
We have shown that ferrous ion at neutral pH photoreduces water to hydrogen with a high quantum yield on excitation with near-ultraviolet light. This simple system also efficiently reduces carbon dioxide (bicarbonate ions) to formaldehyde. Overall, these reactions offer a solution to a dilemma confronting the standard or Oparin-Urey model of the origin of life. If carbon dioxide was the main form of carbon on the primitive earth, the ferrous photoreaction would have provided the reduced carbon necessary to form amino acids and other biogenetic molecules. We believe this system may have been the progenitor to the biological photosynthetic systems.