From Zero to Hero: The Cyanide-Free Formation of Amino Acids and Amides from Acetylene, Ammonia and Carbon Monoxide in Aqueous Environments in a Simulated Hadean Scenario

Amino acids are one of the most important building blocks of life. During the biochemical process of translation, cells sequentially connect amino acids via amide bonds to synthesize proteins, using the genetic information in messenger RNA (mRNA) as a template. From a prebiotic perspective (i.e., wi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Life (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 14; no. 6; p. 719
Main Authors:	Seitz, Christian, Geisberger, Thomas, West, Alexander Richard, Fertl, Jessica, Eisenreich, Wolfgang, Huber, Claudia
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Switzerland MDPI AG 01-06-2024 MDPI
Subjects:	Acetylene amide Amides Amino acids Ammonia Aqueous environments Aqueous solution reactions Aqueous solutions Biochemistry Carbon monoxide Catalysis Chemical evolution (Origin of life) Chemical properties Chemical reactions Chemical research Condensates Cyanides Energy resources Environmental aspects Experiments hydrothermal conditions Information processing Metal sulfides mRNA Nitrogen compounds peptide bond Peptides Prebiotics Stable isotopes Sulfides Transition metal compounds transition metal sulfides Transition metals Volcanism Germany origin of life amide amino acids peptide bond transition metal sulfides acetylene hydrothermal conditions
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Summary:	Amino acids are one of the most important building blocks of life. During the biochemical process of translation, cells sequentially connect amino acids via amide bonds to synthesize proteins, using the genetic information in messenger RNA (mRNA) as a template. From a prebiotic perspective (i.e., without enzymatic catalysis), joining amino acids to peptides via amide bonds is difficult due to the highly endergonic nature of the condensation reaction. We show here that amides can be formed in reactions catalyzed by the transition metal sulfides from acetylene, carbon monoxide and ammonia under aqueous conditions. Some α- and β-amino acids were also formed under the same conditions, demonstrating an alternative cyanide-free path for the formation of amino acids in prebiotic environments. Experiments performed with stable isotope labeled precursors, like NH Cl and C-acetylene, enabled the accurate mass spectroscopic identification of the products formed from the starting materials and their composition. Reactions catalyzed using the transition metal sulfides seem to offer a promising alternative pathway for the formation of amides and amino acids in prebiotic environments, bypassing the challenges posed by the highly endergonic condensation reaction. These findings shed light on the potential mechanisms by which the building blocks of life could have originated on early Earth.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	2075-1729 2075-1729
DOI:	10.3390/life14060719