Phosphoribosyl Pyrophosphate: A Molecular Vestige of the Origin of Life on Minerals

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie International Edition Vol. 56; no. 27; pp. 7920 - 7923
• Main Authors: Akouche, Mariame, Jaber, Maguy, Maurel, Marie‐Christine, Lambert, Jean‐Francois, Georgelin, Thomas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 26-06-2017; Wiley-VCH Verlag
• Edition: International ed. in English
• Subjects: Adenine; Adenosine monophosphate; AMP; Chemical Sciences; Chemical synthesis; D-Ribose; Glycosylation; Minerals; nucleotides; one-pot synthesis; origin of life; Phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate; Phosphorylation; Ribose; Silica; Silica fume; Silicon dioxide; surface chemistry; origin of life; surface chemistry; phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate; nucleotides; one-pot synthesis
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201702633

In this contribution, we report the formation under prebiotic conditions of phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate (PRPP) as a molecular precursor in the one‐pot synthesis of a canonical nucleotide, namely adenosine monophosphate (AMP) from its building blocks (KH2PO4 or Pi, adenine, and d‐ribose), on a fumed silica surface. The on‐the‐rocks approach has been successfully applied to the simultaneous phosphorylation and glycosylation of ribose. The one‐pot formation mechanism of AMP involves a two‐step pathway via an activated intermediate, namely PRPP, obtained by multiple ribose phosphorylations upon mild thermal activation.
AMPing up prebiotic synthesis: The formation of phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate (PRPP) under prebiotic conditions is reported. PRPP was further used as a molecular intermediate in the one‐pot synthesis of a canonical nucleotide, namely adenosine monophosphate (AMP), from its building blocks (KH2PO4, adenine, and d‐ribose) on a fumed silica surface.