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Photochemical Steps in the Prebiotic Synthesis of Purine Precursors from HCN
Author(s) -
Boulanger Eliot,
Anoop Anakuthil,
Nachtigallova Dana,
Thiel Walter,
Barbatti Mario
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201303246
Subject(s) - nucleobase , chemistry , tetramer , excited state , computer science , purine , nucleotide , combinatorial chemistry , organic chemistry , dna , physics , biochemistry , nuclear physics , gene , enzyme
So much excitement : The mechanism for the photoconversion of the HCN tetramer into a precursor of purine nucleobases and nucleotides has been revealed by computational methods. Dissipation of the photoenergy in less than 2 ps eliminates the possibility of hot‐ground‐state reactions. Instead, a series of photoexcitations followed by internal conversion (IC) drives the reaction via an excited azetene (see picture).