Premium
On a Hypothetical Generational Relationship between HCN and Constituents of the Reductive Citric Acid Cycle
Author(s) -
Eschenmoser Albert
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
chemistry and biodiversity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.427
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1612-1880
pISSN - 1612-1872
DOI - 10.1002/cbdv.200790050
Subject(s) - chemistry , autocatalysis , context (archaeology) , abiogenesis , tetramer , citric acid , acetaldehyde , robustness (evolution) , hydrolysis , reductive elimination , chemical reaction , organic chemistry , biochemistry , catalysis , astrobiology , paleontology , physics , gene , ethanol , biology , enzyme
Encouraged by observations made on the course of reactions the HCN‐tetramer can undergo with acetaldehyde, I delineate a constitutional and potentially generational relationship between HCN and those constituents of the reductive citric acid cycle that are direct precursors of amino acids in contemporary metabolism. In this context, the robustness postulate of classical prebiotic chemistry is questioned, and, by an analysis of the (hypothetical) reaction‐tree of a stepwise hydrolysis of the HCN‐tetramer, it is shown how such a non‐robust chemical reaction platform could harbor the potential for the emergence of autocatalytic cycles. It is concluded that the chemistry of HCN should be revisited by focussing on its non‐robust parts in order to demonstrate its full potential as one of the possible roots of prebiotic self‐organizing chemical processes.