Ecological and Biological Sciences Department (DEB), University of Tuscia, Via S. Camillo de Lellis snc, 01100, Viterbo, Italy.
Laboratorio de Estudios Cristalográficos, Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la, Tierra, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad de, Granada, Avenida de las Palmeras 4, Armilla, Granada, 18100, Spain.
Chemistry. 2018 Jun 7;24(32):8126-8132. doi: 10.1002/chem.201706162. Epub 2018 May 14.
It has recently been demonstrated that mineral self-assembled structures catalyzing prebiotic chemical reactions may form in natural waters derived from serpentinization, a geological process widespread in the early stages of Earth-like planets. We have synthesized self-assembled membranes by mixing microdrops of metal solutions with alkaline silicate solutions in the presence of formamide (NH CHO), a single-carbon molecule, at 80 °C. We found that these bilayer membranes, made of amorphous silica and metal oxide/hydroxide nanocrystals, catalyze the condensation of formamide, yielding the four nucleobases of RNA, three amino acids and, several carboxylic acids in a single-pot experiment. Besides manganese, iron and magnesium, two abundant elements in the earliest Earth crust that are key in serpentinization reactions, are enough to produce all these biochemical compounds. These results suggest that the transition from inorganic geochemistry to prebiotic organic chemistry is common on a universal scale and, most probably, occurred earlier than ever thought for our planet.
最近有研究表明，在蛇纹石化作用形成的天然水中可能形成催化前生物化学反应的矿物质自组装结构，蛇纹石化作用是类地行星早期阶段广泛存在的地质过程。我们在 80°C 下，通过混合金属微滴与碱性硅酸钠溶液，并在甲酰胺（NHCHO）——一种单碳分子——的存在下合成了自组装膜。我们发现这些双层膜由无定形二氧化硅和金属氧化物/氢氧化物纳米晶体组成，可催化甲酰胺的缩合，在一锅实验中生成 RNA 的四个核碱基、三种氨基酸和几种羧酸。除了锰、铁和镁——最早地壳中对蛇纹石化反应至关重要的两种丰富元素——足以产生所有这些生化化合物。这些结果表明，从无机地球化学到前生物有机化学的转变在普遍范围内很常见，而且很可能比我们以前认为的地球出现得更早。
