Step by Step Strecker Amino Acid Synthesis from Ab Initio Prebiotic Chemistry

The amino acids synthesis from elementary precursors in abiotic conditions is traditionally described according to the Strecker reaction, thoroughly invoked justify observation of extraterrestrial samples and their emergence primordial Earth. To this day, however, a quantitative microscopic description mechanism, thermodynamics, kinetics multistep reaction still lacking. In present work we tackle study by adopting state-of-the-art ab initio computational approach, combining an efficient scheme exploration relevant chemical networks with rigorous determination underlying free energy transition states. We determine step-by-step pathway glycine solution calculate corresponding full landscape. Our results agree well scarce available experimental data complete them, thus providing first end-to-end complex crucial bottleneck for life.