Premium
A Stark Contrast to Modern Earth: Phosphate Mineral Transformation and Nucleoside Phosphorylation in an Iron‐ and Cyanide‐Rich Early Earth Scenario
Author(s) -
Burcar Bradley,
Castañeda Alma,
Lago Jennifer,
Daniel Mischael,
Pasek Matthew A.,
Hud Nicholas V.,
Orlando Thomas M.,
MenorSalván César
Publication year - 2019
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.201908272
Subject(s) - chemistry , cyanide , formamide , ammonium formate , phosphate , abiogenesis , phosphate minerals , earth (classical element) , formate , inorganic chemistry , ferrihydrite , environmental chemistry , organic chemistry , astrobiology , catalysis , acetonitrile , physics , mathematical physics , adsorption
Organophosphates were likely an important class of prebiotic molecules. However, their presence on the early Earth is strongly debated because the low availability of phosphate, which is generally assumed to have been sequestered in insoluble calcium and iron minerals, is widely viewed as a major barrier to organophosphate generation. Herein, we demonstrate that cyanide (an essential prebiotic precursor) and urea‐based solvents could promote nucleoside phosphorylation by transforming insoluble phosphate minerals in a “warm little pond” scenario into more soluble and reactive species. Our results suggest that cyanide and its derivatives (metal cyanide complexes, urea, ammonium formate, and formamide) were key reagents for the participation of phosphorus in chemical evolution. These results allow us to propose a holistic scenario in which an evaporitic environment could concentrate abiotically formed organics and transform the underlying minerals, allowing significant organic phosphorylation under plausible prebiotic conditions.