A Stereoelectronic Effect in Prebiotic Nucleotide Synthesis

A stereoelectronic effect in prebiotic nucleotide synthesis.

A plausible route for the spontaneous synthesis of an activated ribonucleotide that is poised for polymerization has been put forth (Powner et al. (2009) Nature, 459, 239-242). A key step in this route necessitates the regioselective phosphorylation of the secondary alcohol on C(3') of an anhydroarabinonucleoside in the presence of the primary alcohol on C(5'). Here, we propose that this regios...

Prebiotic Synthesis of Pyrimidine Nucleosides

Prebiotic stereoselective synthesis of purine and noncanonical pyrimidine nucleotide from nucleobases and phosphorylated carbohydrates.

According to a current "RNA first" model for the origin of life, RNA emerged in some form on early Earth to become the first biopolymer to support Darwinism here. Threose nucleic acid (TNA) and other polyelectrolytes are also considered as the possible first Darwinian biopolymer(s). This model is being developed by research pursuing a "Discontinuous Synthesis Model" (DSM) for the formation of R...

Conformational stability of collagen relies on a stereoelectronic effect.

A polypeptide chain can adopt many conformations. Yet, the sequence of its amino acid residues directs folding to a particular native state.1 The loss of conformational entropy associated with folding destabilizes the native state. This destabilization is overcome by the hydrophobic effect, hydrogen bonds, other noncovalent interactions, and disulfide bonds.2 We have identified another force th...

Common and Potentially Prebiotic Origin for Precursors of Nucleotide Synthesis and Activation.

We have recently shown that 2-aminoimidazole is a superior nucleotide activating group for nonenzymatic RNA copying. Here we describe a prebiotic synthesis of 2-aminoimidazole that shares a common mechanistic pathway with that of 2-aminooxazole, a previously described key intermediate in prebiotic nucleotide synthesis. In the presence of glycolaldehyde, cyanamide, phosphate and ammonium ion, bo...