Mineral induced formation of sugar phosphates.

Glycolaldehyde phosphate, sorbed from highly dilute, weakly alkaline solution into the interlayer of common expanding sheet structure metal hydroxide minerals, condenses extensively to racemic aldotetrose-2,4-diphosphates and aldohexose-2,4,6-triphosphates. The reaction proceeds mainly through racemic erythrose-2,4-phosphate, and terminates with a large fraction of racemic altrose-2,4,6-phosphate. In the absence of an inductive mineral phase, no detectable homogeneous reaction takes place in the concentration- and pH range used. The reactant glycolaldehyde phosphate is practically completely sorbed within an hour from solutions with concentrations as low as 50 micrometers; the half-time for conversion to hexose phosphates is of the order of two days at room temperature and pH 9.5. Total production of sugar phosphates in the mineral interlayer is largely independent of the glycolaldehyde phosphate concentration in the external solution, but is determined by the total amount of GAP offered for sorption up to the capacity of the mineral. In the presence of equimolar amounts of rac-glyceraldehyde-2-phosphate, but under otherwise similar conditions, aldopentose-2,4,-diphosphates also form, but only as a small fraction of the hexose-2,4,6-phosphates.