Dipartimento A.B.A.C., Università della Tuscia, Via San Camillo De Lellis, 01100, Viterbo, Italy.
J Mol Evol. 2010 Aug;71(2):100-10. doi: 10.1007/s00239-010-9366-7. Epub 2010 Jul 28.
We describe the one-pot synthesis of a large variety of nucleic acid bases and related compounds from formamide in the presence of zirconium minerals as catalysts. The major products observed are: purine, 2-hydroxy pyrimidine, 5-hydroxy pyrimidine, isocytosine, adenine, urea, and carbodiimide. The synthesis of low molecular weight amides and carboxylic acid derivatives (intermediates of extant metabolism) was also observed: glyoxylamide, glycolic-, lactic-, succinic-, oxalic-, fumaric-, and maleic acids. As the major problem in the origin of informational polymers is the instability of their precursors, we also investigated the effects of zirconia minerals on the stability of ribooligonucleotides in formamide and in water. The relevance of these findings with respect to the origin of informational polymers and primordial metabolism is discussed.
我们描述了在锆矿催化剂存在的条件下，由甲酰胺一锅合成多种核酸碱基及相关化合物的方法。主要产物有：嘌呤、2-羟基嘧啶、5-羟基嘧啶、异胞嘧啶、腺嘌呤、脲和碳二亚胺。还观察到了低分子量酰胺和羧酸衍生物（现有代谢中间产物）的合成：乙二醛酰胺、甘醇酸、乳酸、琥珀酸、草酸、富马酸和马来酸。由于信息聚合物前体的不稳定性是其起源的主要问题，我们还研究了锆矿对甲酰胺和水中核糖寡核苷酸稳定性的影响。讨论了这些发现与信息聚合物和原始代谢起源的相关性。
