The Prevailing Catalytic Role of Meteorites in Formamide Prebiotic Processes
Meteorites are consensually considered to be involved in the origin of life on this Planet for several functions and at different levels: (i) as providers of impact energy during their passage through the atmosphere; (ii) as agents of geodynamics, intended both as starters of the Earth’s tectonics a...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2018-02-01
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| Series: | Life |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/8/1/6 |
| _version_ | 1828120045627113472 |
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| author | Raffaele Saladino Lorenzo Botta Ernesto Di Mauro |
| author_facet | Raffaele Saladino Lorenzo Botta Ernesto Di Mauro |
| author_sort | Raffaele Saladino |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Meteorites are consensually considered to be involved in the origin of life on this Planet for several functions and at different levels: (i) as providers of impact energy during their passage through the atmosphere; (ii) as agents of geodynamics, intended both as starters of the Earth’s tectonics and as activators of local hydrothermal systems upon their fall; (iii) as sources of organic materials, at varying levels of limited complexity; and (iv) as catalysts. The consensus about the relevance of these functions differs. We focus on the catalytic activities of the various types of meteorites in reactions relevant for prebiotic chemistry. Formamide was selected as the chemical precursor and various sources of energy were analyzed. The results show that all the meteorites and all the different energy sources tested actively afford complex mixtures of biologically-relevant compounds, indicating the robustness of the formamide-based prebiotic chemistry involved. Although in some cases the yields of products are quite small, the diversity of the detected compounds of biochemical significance underlines the prebiotic importance of meteorite-catalyzed condensation of formamide. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T13:58:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1744e2b20970469b965bcafed689d242 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-1729 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T13:58:54Z |
| publishDate | 2018-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Life |
| spelling | doaj.art-1744e2b20970469b965bcafed689d2422022-12-22T04:20:10ZengMDPI AGLife2075-17292018-02-0181610.3390/life8010006life8010006The Prevailing Catalytic Role of Meteorites in Formamide Prebiotic ProcessesRaffaele Saladino0Lorenzo Botta1Ernesto Di Mauro2Biological and Ecological Department, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, ItalyBiological and Ecological Department, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, ItalyBiological and Ecological Department, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, ItalyMeteorites are consensually considered to be involved in the origin of life on this Planet for several functions and at different levels: (i) as providers of impact energy during their passage through the atmosphere; (ii) as agents of geodynamics, intended both as starters of the Earth’s tectonics and as activators of local hydrothermal systems upon their fall; (iii) as sources of organic materials, at varying levels of limited complexity; and (iv) as catalysts. The consensus about the relevance of these functions differs. We focus on the catalytic activities of the various types of meteorites in reactions relevant for prebiotic chemistry. Formamide was selected as the chemical precursor and various sources of energy were analyzed. The results show that all the meteorites and all the different energy sources tested actively afford complex mixtures of biologically-relevant compounds, indicating the robustness of the formamide-based prebiotic chemistry involved. Although in some cases the yields of products are quite small, the diversity of the detected compounds of biochemical significance underlines the prebiotic importance of meteorite-catalyzed condensation of formamide.http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/8/1/6meteoritescatalysisformamideprebiotic chemistrygeothermal scenariosirradiationradical chemistrynucleosides |
| spellingShingle | Raffaele Saladino Lorenzo Botta Ernesto Di Mauro The Prevailing Catalytic Role of Meteorites in Formamide Prebiotic Processes Life meteorites catalysis formamide prebiotic chemistry geothermal scenarios irradiation radical chemistry nucleosides |
| title | The Prevailing Catalytic Role of Meteorites in Formamide Prebiotic Processes |
| title_full | The Prevailing Catalytic Role of Meteorites in Formamide Prebiotic Processes |
| title_fullStr | The Prevailing Catalytic Role of Meteorites in Formamide Prebiotic Processes |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Prevailing Catalytic Role of Meteorites in Formamide Prebiotic Processes |
| title_short | The Prevailing Catalytic Role of Meteorites in Formamide Prebiotic Processes |
| title_sort | prevailing catalytic role of meteorites in formamide prebiotic processes |
| topic | meteorites catalysis formamide prebiotic chemistry geothermal scenarios irradiation radical chemistry nucleosides |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/8/1/6 |
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