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Pantaleone S, Corno M, Rimola A, Balucani N, Ugliengo P. Computational Study on the Water Corrosion Process at Schreibersite (Fe 2NiP) Surfaces: from Phosphide to Phosphates. ACS EARTH & SPACE CHEMISTRY 2023; 7:2050-2061. [PMID: 37876665 PMCID: PMC10591503 DOI: 10.1021/acsearthspacechem.3c00167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2023] [Revised: 09/07/2023] [Accepted: 09/07/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023]
Abstract
Phosphorus (P) is a fundamental element for whatever form of life, in the same way as the other biogenic macroelements (SONCH). The prebiotic origin of P is still a matter of debate, as the phosphates present on earth are trapped in almost insoluble solid matrixes (apatites) and, therefore, hardly available for inclusion in living systems in the prebiotic era. The most accepted theories regard a possible exogenous origin during the Archean Era, through the meteoritic bombardment, when tons of reactive P in the form of phosphide ((Fe,Ni)3P, schreibersite mineral) reached the primordial earth, reacting with water and providing oxygenated phosphorus compounds (including phosphates). In the last 20 years, laboratory experiments demonstrated that the corrosion process of schreibersite by water indeed leads to reactive phosphates that, in turn, react with other biological building blocks (nucleosides and simple sugars) to form more complex molecules (nucleotides and complex sugars). In the present paper, we study the water corrosion of different crystalline surfaces of schreibersite by means of periodic DFT (density functional theory) simulations. Our results show that water adsorbs molecularly on the most stable (110) surface but dissociates on the less stable (001) one, giving rise to further reactivity. Indeed, subsequent water adsorptions, up to the water monolayer coverage, show that, on the (001) surface, iron and nickel atoms are the first species undergoing the corrosion process and, in a second stage, the phosphorus atoms also get involved. When adsorbing up to three and four water molecules per unit cell, the most stable structures found are the phosphite and phosphate forms of phosphorus, respectively. Simulation of the vibrational spectra of the considered reaction products revealed that the experimental band at 2423 cm-1 attributed to the P-H stretching frequency is indeed predicted for a phosphite moiety attached to the schreibersite (001) surface upon chemisorption of up to three water molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Pantaleone
- Dipartimento
di Chimica and Nanostructured Interfaces and Surfaces (NIS) Centre, Università degli Studi di Torino, via P. Giuria 7,, I-10125 Torino, Italy
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Biologia e Biotecnologie, Università
degli Studi di Perugia, Via Elce di Sotto 8, I-06123 Perugia, Italy
| | - Marta Corno
- Dipartimento
di Chimica and Nanostructured Interfaces and Surfaces (NIS) Centre, Università degli Studi di Torino, via P. Giuria 7,, I-10125 Torino, Italy
| | - Albert Rimola
- Departament
de Química, Universitat Autònoma
de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Nadia Balucani
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Biologia e Biotecnologie, Università
degli Studi di Perugia, Via Elce di Sotto 8, I-06123 Perugia, Italy
- Osservatorio
Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi 5, I-50125 Firenze, Italy
- Université
Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique
de Grenoble (IPAG), F-38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Piero Ugliengo
- Dipartimento
di Chimica and Nanostructured Interfaces and Surfaces (NIS) Centre, Università degli Studi di Torino, via P. Giuria 7,, I-10125 Torino, Italy
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Guo X, Fu S, Ying J, Zhao Y. Prebiotic chemistry: a review of nucleoside phosphorylation and polymerization. Open Biol 2023; 13:220234. [PMID: 36629018 PMCID: PMC9832566 DOI: 10.1098/rsob.220234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The phosphorylation of nucleosides and their polymerization are crucial issues concerning the origin of life. The question of how these plausible chemical processes took place in the prebiotic Earth is still perplexing, despite several studies that have attempted to explain these prebiotic processes. The purpose of this article is to review these chemical reactions with respect to chemical evolution in the primeval Earth. Meanwhile, from our perspective, the chiral properties and selection of biomolecules should be considered in the prebiotic chemical origin of life, which may contribute to further research in this field to some extent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaofan Guo
- Institute of Drug Discovery Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| | - Songsen Fu
- Institute of Drug Discovery Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| | - Jianxi Ying
- Institute of Drug Discovery Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| | - Yufen Zhao
- Institute of Drug Discovery Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China,Department of Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, Fujian, People's Republic of China
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3
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Nunes Palmeira R, Colnaghi M, Harrison SA, Pomiankowski A, Lane N. The limits of metabolic heredity in protocells. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20221469. [PMID: 36350219 PMCID: PMC9653231 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The universal core of metabolism could have emerged from thermodynamically favoured prebiotic pathways at the origin of life. Starting with H
2
and CO
2
, the synthesis of amino acids and mixed fatty acids, which self-assemble into protocells, is favoured under warm anoxic conditions. Here, we address whether it is possible for protocells to evolve greater metabolic complexity, through positive feedbacks involving nucleotide catalysis. Using mathematical simulations to model metabolic heredity in protocells, based on branch points in protometabolic flux, we show that nucleotide catalysis can indeed promote protocell growth. This outcome only occurs when nucleotides directly catalyse CO
2
fixation. Strong nucleotide catalysis of other pathways (e.g. fatty acids and amino acids) generally unbalances metabolism and slows down protocell growth, and when there is competition between catalytic functions cell growth collapses. Autocatalysis of nucleotide synthesis can promote growth but only if nucleotides also catalyse CO
2
fixation; autocatalysis alone leads to the accumulation of nucleotides at the expense of CO
2
fixation and protocell growth rate. Our findings offer a new framework for the emergence of greater metabolic complexity, in which nucleotides catalyse broad-spectrum processes such as CO
2
fixation, hydrogenation and phosphorylation important to the emergence of genetic heredity at the origin of life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raquel Nunes Palmeira
- Department of Computer Science, Engineering Building, Malet Place, University College London, WC1E 7JG, UK
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Marco Colnaghi
- Department of Computer Science, Engineering Building, Malet Place, University College London, WC1E 7JG, UK
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Stuart A. Harrison
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Andrew Pomiankowski
- Department of Computer Science, Engineering Building, Malet Place, University College London, WC1E 7JG, UK
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Nick Lane
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
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4
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Saha A, Yi R, Fahrenbach AC, Wang A, Jia TZ. A Physicochemical Consideration of Prebiotic Microenvironments for Self-Assembly and Prebiotic Chemistry. LIFE (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2022; 12:life12101595. [PMID: 36295030 PMCID: PMC9604842 DOI: 10.3390/life12101595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2022] [Revised: 10/07/2022] [Accepted: 10/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
The origin of life on Earth required myriads of chemical and physical processes. These include the formation of the planet and its geological structures, the formation of the first primitive chemicals, reaction, and assembly of these primitive chemicals to form more complex or functional products and assemblies, and finally the formation of the first cells (or protocells) on early Earth, which eventually evolved into modern cells. Each of these processes presumably occurred within specific prebiotic reaction environments, which could have been diverse in physical and chemical properties. While there are resources that describe prebiotically plausible environments or nutrient availability, here, we attempt to aggregate the literature for the various physicochemical properties of different prebiotic reaction microenvironments on early Earth. We introduce a handful of properties that can be quantified through physical or chemical techniques. The values for these physicochemical properties, if they are known, are then presented for each reaction environment, giving the reader a sense of the environmental variability of such properties. Such a resource may be useful for prebiotic chemists to understand the range of conditions in each reaction environment, or to select the medium most applicable for their targeted reaction of interest for exploratory studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arpita Saha
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, 600 1st Ave, Floor 1, Seattle, WA 98104, USA
- Amity Institute of Applied Sciences, Amity University, Kolkata 700135, India
| | - Ruiqin Yi
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
| | - Albert C. Fahrenbach
- School of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
- Australian Centre for Astrobiology, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
- UNSW RNA Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Anna Wang
- School of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
- Australian Centre for Astrobiology, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
- UNSW RNA Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
- Correspondence: (A.W.); (T.Z.J.)
| | - Tony Z. Jia
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, 600 1st Ave, Floor 1, Seattle, WA 98104, USA
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-IE-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8550, Japan
- Correspondence: (A.W.); (T.Z.J.)
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5
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Pantaleone S, Corno M, Rimola A, Balucani N, Ugliengo P. Water Interaction with Fe 2NiP Schreibersite (110) Surface: a Quantum Mechanical Atomistic Perspective. THE JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY. C, NANOMATERIALS AND INTERFACES 2022; 126:2243-2252. [PMID: 35145576 PMCID: PMC8819687 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.1c09947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2021] [Revised: 01/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Phosphorus is an element of primary importance for all living creatures, being present in many biological activities in the form of phosphate (PO4 3-). However, there are still open questions about the origin of this specific element and on the transformation that allowed it to be incorporated in biological systems. The most probable source of prebiotic phosphorus is the intense meteoritic bombardment during the Archean era, a few million years after the solar system formation, which brought tons of iron-phosphide materials (schreibersite) on the early Earth crust. It was recently demonstrated that by simple wetting/corrosion processes from this material, various oxygenated phosphorus compounds are produced. In the present work, the wetting process of schreibersite (Fe2NiP) was studied by computer simulations using density functional theory, with the PBE functional supplemented with dispersive interactions through a posteriori empirical correction. To start disentangling the complexity of the system, only the most stable (110) surface of Fe2NiP was used simulating different water coverages, from which structures, water binding energies, and vibrational spectra have been predicted. The computed (ana-)harmonic infrared spectra have been compared with the experimental ones, thus, confirming the validity of the adopted methodology and models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Pantaleone
- Dipartimento
di Chimica and Nanostructured Interfaces and Surfaces (NIS) Centre, Università degli Studi di Torino, via P. Giuria 7, I-10125, Torino, Italy
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Biologia e Biotecnologie, Università
degli Studi di Perugia, Via Elce di Sotto 8, I-06123 Perugia, Italy
| | - Marta Corno
- Dipartimento
di Chimica and Nanostructured Interfaces and Surfaces (NIS) Centre, Università degli Studi di Torino, via P. Giuria 7, I-10125, Torino, Italy
| | - Albert Rimola
- Departament
de Química, Universitat Autònoma
de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Catalonia Spain
| | - Nadia Balucani
- Dipartimento
di Chimica, Biologia e Biotecnologie, Università
degli Studi di Perugia, Via Elce di Sotto 8, I-06123 Perugia, Italy
- Osservatorio
Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi 5, I-50125 Firenze, Italy
- Université
Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique
de Grenoble (IPAG), F-38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Piero Ugliengo
- Dipartimento
di Chimica and Nanostructured Interfaces and Surfaces (NIS) Centre, Università degli Studi di Torino, via P. Giuria 7, I-10125, Torino, Italy
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6
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OUP accepted manuscript. Metallomics 2022; 14:6549566. [DOI: 10.1093/mtomcs/mfac016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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7
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Gaylor MO, Miro P, Vlaisavljevich B, Kondage AAS, Barge LM, Omran A, Videau P, Swenson VA, Leinen LJ, Fitch NW, Cole KL, Stone C, Drummond SM, Rageth K, Dewitt LR, González Henao S, Karanauskus V. Plausible Emergence and Self Assembly of a Primitive Phospholipid from Reduced Phosphorus on the Primordial Earth. ORIGINS LIFE EVOL B 2021; 51:185-213. [PMID: 34279769 DOI: 10.1007/s11084-021-09613-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2021] [Accepted: 06/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
How life arose on the primitive Earth is one of the biggest questions in science. Biomolecular emergence scenarios have proliferated in the literature but accounting for the ubiquity of oxidized (+ 5) phosphate (PO43-) in extant biochemistries has been challenging due to the dearth of phosphate and molecular oxygen on the primordial Earth. A compelling body of work suggests that exogenous schreibersite ((Fe,Ni)3P) was delivered to Earth via meteorite impacts during the Heavy Bombardment (ca. 4.1-3.8 Gya) and there converted to reduced P oxyanions (e.g., phosphite (HPO32-) and hypophosphite (H2PO2-)) and phosphonates. Inspired by this idea, we review the relevant literature to deduce a plausible reduced phospholipid analog of modern phosphatidylcholines that could have emerged in a primordial hydrothermal setting. A shallow alkaline lacustrine basin underlain by active hydrothermal fissures and meteoritic schreibersite-, clay-, and metal-enriched sediments is envisioned. The water column is laden with known and putative primordial hydrothermal reagents. Small system dimensions and thermal- and UV-driven evaporation further concentrate chemical precursors. We hypothesize that a reduced phospholipid arises from Fischer-Tropsch-type (FTT) production of a C8 alkanoic acid, which condenses with an organophosphinate (derived from schreibersite corrosion to hypophosphite with subsequent methylation/oxidation), to yield a reduced protophospholipid. This then condenses with an α-amino nitrile (derived from Strecker-type reactions) to form the polar head. Preliminary modeling results indicate that reduced phospholipids do not aggregate rapidly; however, single layer micelles are stable up to aggregates with approximately 100 molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael O Gaylor
- Department of Chemistry, Dakota State University, Madison, SD, 57042, USA.
| | - Pere Miro
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, 57069, USA
| | - Bess Vlaisavljevich
- Department of Chemistry, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, 57069, USA
| | | | - Laura M Barge
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA
| | - Arthur Omran
- School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 33620, USA.,Department of Chemistry, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
| | - Patrick Videau
- Department of Biology, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR, 97520, USA.,Bayer Crop Science, Chesterfield, MO, 63017, USA
| | - Vaille A Swenson
- Department of Chemistry, Dakota State University, Madison, SD, 57042, USA.,Department of Molecular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA
| | - Lucas J Leinen
- Department of Chemistry, Dakota State University, Madison, SD, 57042, USA
| | - Nathaniel W Fitch
- Department of Chemistry, Dakota State University, Madison, SD, 57042, USA
| | - Krista L Cole
- Department of Chemistry, Dakota State University, Madison, SD, 57042, USA
| | - Chris Stone
- Department of Biology, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR, 97520, USA
| | - Samuel M Drummond
- Department of Chemistry, Dakota State University, Madison, SD, 57042, USA
| | - Kayli Rageth
- Department of Chemistry, Dakota State University, Madison, SD, 57042, USA
| | - Lillian R Dewitt
- Department of Chemistry, Dakota State University, Madison, SD, 57042, USA
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8
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Radiative association of P and Cl atoms. Theor Chem Acc 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s00214-020-02606-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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9
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The Prebiotic Provenance of Semi-Aqueous Solvents. ORIGINS LIFE EVOL B 2020; 50:1-14. [PMID: 32388697 DOI: 10.1007/s11084-020-09595-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2019] [Accepted: 03/20/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
The numerous and varied roles of phosphorylated organic molecules in biochemistry suggest they may have been important to the origin of life. The prominence of phosphorylated molecules presents a conundrum given that phosphorylation is a thermodynamically unfavorable, endergonic process in water, and most natural sources of phosphate are poorly soluble. We recently demonstrated that a semi-aqueous solvent consisting of urea, ammonium formate, and water (UAFW) supports the dissolution of phosphate and the phosphorylation of nucleosides. However, the prebiotic feasibility and robustness of the UAFW system are unclear. Here, we study the UAFW system as a medium in which phosphate minerals are potentially solubilized. Specifically, we conduct a series of chemical experiments alongside thermodynamic models that simulate the formation of ammonium formate from the hydrolysis of hydrogen cyanide, and demonstrate the stability of formamide in such solvents (as an aqueous mixture). The dissolution of hydroxylapatite requires a liquid medium, and we investigate whether a UAFW system is solid or liquid over varied conditions, finding that this characteristic is controlled by the molar ratios of the three components. For liquid UAFW mixtures, we also find the solubility of phosphate is higher when the quantity of ammonium formate is greater than urea. We suggest the urea within the system can lower the activity of water, help create a stable and persistent solution, and may act as a condensing agent/catalyst to improve nucleoside phosphorylation yields.
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10
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Liu F, Liu Y, Shen C, Li F, Yang B, Huang M, Ma C, Yang M, Wang Z, Sand W. One-step phosphite removal by an electroactive CNT filter functionalized with TiO 2/CeO x nanocomposites. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 710:135514. [PMID: 31780164 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2019] [Revised: 10/31/2019] [Accepted: 11/12/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Compared with phosphate (+5 valence), phosphite (HPO32-/H2PO3-, +3 valence) possesses higher solubility, and is more resistant to biotransformation. Herein, we designed a one-step electroactive filter technology for rapid and efficient phosphite removal. The filter consists of carbon nanotubes (CNT) and functionalized with nanoscale TiCe binary oxides. The phosphite removal kinetics and capacity increased with electric field (e.g., from 54.5% at 0 V to 75.6% at 2 V) and flow rate (e.g., from 63.1% at 1.5 mL/min to 81.2% at 6 mL/min). This can be attributed to synergistic effects of the filter's electrochemical reactivity, limited pore size, more exposed active sites and flow-through design. Meanwhile, phosphite can be converted to phosphate once adsorbed under electric field. The TiO2/CeOx-CNT filter could work effectively across a wide pH range, and the presence of various coexisting anions posed negligible impact on phosphite removal. Electrochemical characterizations verified the essential role of CeOx and applied electric field, which synergistically accelerated electron transfer rate and increased charge capacity. The TiO2/CeOx-CNT filter can be regenerated effectively by chemical washing. The system efficacy was further supported by a comparable phosphite removal efficiency of 72.8% in actual lake water conditions. Therefore, this TiO2/CeOx-CNT filter technology is promising for mitigating the challenging issue of phosphite contamination from water bodies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fuqiang Liu
- Textile Pollution Controlling Engineering Center of Ministry of Environmental Protection, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, China
| | - Yanbiao Liu
- Textile Pollution Controlling Engineering Center of Ministry of Environmental Protection, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China.
| | - Chensi Shen
- Textile Pollution Controlling Engineering Center of Ministry of Environmental Protection, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Fang Li
- Textile Pollution Controlling Engineering Center of Ministry of Environmental Protection, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Bo Yang
- Textile Pollution Controlling Engineering Center of Ministry of Environmental Protection, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, China
| | - Manhong Huang
- Textile Pollution Controlling Engineering Center of Ministry of Environmental Protection, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Chunyan Ma
- Textile Pollution Controlling Engineering Center of Ministry of Environmental Protection, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, China
| | - Ming Yang
- Instrumental Analysis Center, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620, China
| | - Zhiwei Wang
- Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China; State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
| | - Wolfgang Sand
- Textile Pollution Controlling Engineering Center of Ministry of Environmental Protection, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Donghua University, 2999 North Renmin Road, Shanghai 201620, China; Institute of Biosciences, Freiberg University of Mining and Technology, Freiberg 09599, Germany
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11
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12
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Abstract
Phosphorus is a minor element that controls the formation of several key planetary minerals. It is also an element critical to the development of life. A common assumption of phosphorus chemistry is that at low temperatures, phosphorus would have been a volatile component of ices or gases in the outer Solar System. Here I propose that phosphorus was depleted as a volatile throughout the developing solar system, and as a result, volatile forms of phosphorus would have been minimal, even in the cold regions of the solar nebula. Based on thermodynamic equilibrium models and metal phosphidation kinetics coupled to a simple 1D gas diffusion model, phosphorus migrated rapidly to the inner Solar System, forming solids such as phosphides and phosphates, and removing volatile phosphorus across large portions of the Solar System.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew A Pasek
- School of Geosciences University of South Florida 4202 E. Fowler Ave NES 204 Tampa FL USA 33620
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13
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Pasek MA. The Origin of the Ionized Linker: Geochemical Predestination for Phosphate? ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-93584-3_6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/03/2023]
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14
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Data-Driven Astrochemistry: One Step Further within the Origin of Life Puzzle. Life (Basel) 2018; 8:life8020018. [PMID: 29857564 PMCID: PMC6027145 DOI: 10.3390/life8020018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2018] [Revised: 05/20/2018] [Accepted: 05/22/2018] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Astrochemistry, meteoritics and chemical analytics represent a manifold scientific field, including various disciplines. In this review, clarifications on astrochemistry, comet chemistry, laboratory astrophysics and meteoritic research with respect to organic and metalorganic chemistry will be given. The seemingly large number of observed astrochemical molecules necessarily requires explanations on molecular complexity and chemical evolution, which will be discussed. Special emphasis should be placed on data-driven analytical methods including ultrahigh-resolving instruments and their interplay with quantum chemical computations. These methods enable remarkable insights into the complex chemical spaces that exist in meteorites and maximize the level of information on the huge astrochemical molecular diversity. In addition, they allow one to study even yet undescribed chemistry as the one involving organomagnesium compounds in meteorites. Both targeted and non-targeted analytical strategies will be explained and may touch upon epistemological problems. In addition, implications of (metal)organic matter toward prebiotic chemistry leading to the emergence of life will be discussed. The precise description of astrochemical organic and metalorganic matter as seeds for life and their interactions within various astrophysical environments may appear essential to further study questions regarding the emergence of life on a most fundamental level that is within the molecular world and its self-organization properties.
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15
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Turner AM, Abplanalp MJ, Blair TJ, Dayuha R, Kaiser RI. An Infrared Spectroscopic Study Toward the Formation of Alkylphosphonic Acids and Their Precursors in Extraterrestrial Environments. THE ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL. SUPPLEMENT SERIES 2018; 234:6. [PMID: 30842689 PMCID: PMC6398957 DOI: 10.3847/1538-4365/aa9183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The only known phosphorus-containing organic compounds of extraterrestrial origin, alkylphosphonic acids, were discovered in the Murchison meteorite and have accelerated the hypothesis that reduced oxidation states of phosphorus were delivered to early Earth and served as a prebiotic source of phosphorus. While previous studies looking into the formation of these alkylphosphonic acids have focused on the iron-nickel phosphide mineral schreibersite and phosphorous acid as a source of phosphorus, this work utilizes phosphine (PH3), which has been discovered in the circumstellar envelope of IRC +10216, in the atmosphere of Jupiter and Saturn, and believed to be the phosphorus carrier in comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Phosphine ices prepared with interstellar molecules such as carbon dioxide, water, and methane were subjected to electron irradiation, which simulates the secondary electrons produced from galactic cosmic rays penetrating the ice, and probed using infrared spectroscopy to understand the possible formation of alkylphosphonic acids and their precursors on interstellar icy grains that could become incorporated into meteorites such as Murchison. We present the first study and results on the possible synthesis of alkylphosphonic acids produced from phosphine-mixed ices under interstellar conditions. All functional groups of alkylphosphonic acids were detected through infrared spectroscopically, suggesting that this class of molecules can be formed in interstellar ices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew M Turner
- W. M. Keck Research Laboratory in Astrochemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA;
- Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
| | - Matthew J Abplanalp
- W. M. Keck Research Laboratory in Astrochemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA;
- Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
| | - Tyler J Blair
- W. M. Keck Research Laboratory in Astrochemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA;
- Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
| | - Remwilyn Dayuha
- W. M. Keck Research Laboratory in Astrochemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA;
- Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
| | - Ralf I Kaiser
- W. M. Keck Research Laboratory in Astrochemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA;
- Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
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Lönnberg T. Sulfurization of H-Phosphonate Diesters by Elemental Sulfur under Aqueous Conditions. ACS OMEGA 2017; 2:5122-5127. [PMID: 31457787 PMCID: PMC6641597 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.7b00970] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2017] [Accepted: 08/16/2017] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
To assess the plausibility of prebiotic nucleic acid polymerization by a sequential phosphitylation-sulfurization mechanism, the rates of hydrolysis and sulfurization of bis(2',3'-O-methyleneadenosin-5'-yl)-H-phosphonate, a dinucleoside H-phosphonate diester, have been determined over a wide pH range (0.52-7.25) and in the presence of varying amounts (0-30 mg) of elemental sulfur. The pH-rate profile of hydrolysis resembled the one previously reported for the H-phosphonate analogue of thymidylyl-3',5'-thymidine, with a relatively wide pH-independent region flanked by acid- and base-catalyzed regions. Sulfurization to the respective phosphorothioate diester, in turn, was found to be base-catalyzed over the entire pH range studied. Despite the facile hydrolysis of H-phosphonate diesters and the extremely low solubility of elemental sulfur in water, sulfurization and hydrolysis proceeded at comparable rates under neutral and mildly acidic conditions.
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Has Inositol Played Any Role in the Origin of Life? Life (Basel) 2017; 7:life7020024. [PMID: 28587245 PMCID: PMC5492146 DOI: 10.3390/life7020024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2017] [Revised: 05/26/2017] [Accepted: 06/02/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Phosphorus, as phosphate, plays a paramount role in biology. Since phosphate transfer reactions are an integral part of contemporary life, phosphate may have been incorporated into the initial molecules at the very beginning. To facilitate the studies into early phosphate utilization, we should look retrospectively to phosphate-rich molecules present in today’s cells. Overlooked by origin of life studies until now, inositol and the inositol phosphates, of which some species possess more phosphate groups that carbon atoms, represent ideal molecules to consider in this context. The current sophisticated association of inositol with phosphate, and the roles that some inositol phosphates play in regulating cellular phosphate homeostasis, intriguingly suggest that inositol might have played some role in the prebiotic process of phosphate exploitation. Inositol can be synthesized abiotically and, unlike glucose or ribose, is chemically stable. This stability makes inositol the ideal candidate for the earliest organophosphate molecules, as primitive inositol phosphates. I also present arguments suggesting roles for some inositol phosphates in early chemical evolution events. Finally, the possible prebiotic synthesis of inositol pyrophosphates could have generated high-energy molecules to be utilized in primitive trans-phosphorylating processes.
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Qiu H, Geng J, Ren H, Ding L, Xu K, Zhang Y. Aquatic transformation of phosphite under natural sunlight and simulated irradiation. WATER RESEARCH 2017; 109:69-76. [PMID: 27866104 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2016.11.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2016] [Revised: 10/24/2016] [Accepted: 11/05/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The phototransformation of phosphite (HPO32-, H2PO3-, +3) from Lake Taihu water (THW) under natural sunlight was evaluated. No direct phosphite photoreaction was observed under sunlight. Suspended solids were shown to play important roles in the indirect photoreaction of phosphite in lake water. The phototransformation of phosphite followed pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics and the kinetics constants (k, d-1) decreased as: 0.0324 (original THW), 0.0236 (sterilized THW), 0.0109 (filtered THW) and 0.0102 (sterilized filtered THW). Original THW with 1 mmol L-1 NO3- added was used to simulate the phosphite removal in lakes with serious N pollution. The results showed that the phototransformation was accelerated (with k increased to 0.0386-0.0463 d-1), and sterilization or filtration shown little effect to the transformation, as the half-lives of phosphite drew closer. Under simulated irradiation in NO3- system, increasing NO3- concentration or decreasing pH value promoted phototransformation. The addition of Fe3+ or Fe2+ accelerated photooxidation, while the addition of Mn2+ or Cd2+ inhibited phototransformation. Br-, NO2- and HCO3- in environmental concentrations decreased phototransformation, and HCO3- showed the strongest inhibition. Suwannee River humic acid or Suwannee River fulvic acid strongly inhibited the photooxidation process, and the inhibiting effects varied with their structure. Phosphite photooxidation was strongly inhibited by adding isopropanol or sodium azide as reactive oxygen species (ROS) quenchers. Electron spin resonance analysis indicated that OH was a main oxidant produced in this system. The increased amount of phosphate coincided with the decreased amount of phosphite, which indicated that the transformation product of phosphite was phosphate. Phosphite is a considerable component of the P redox cycle in Lake Taihu.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huimin Qiu
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Jinju Geng
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
| | - Hongqiang Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Lili Ding
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Ke Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Yan Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
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Lönnberg T. Nucleic acids through condensation of nucleosides and phosphorous acid in the presence of sulfur. Beilstein J Org Chem 2016; 12:670-3. [PMID: 27340459 PMCID: PMC4902050 DOI: 10.3762/bjoc.12.67] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2016] [Accepted: 03/30/2016] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Short phosphorothioate oligonucleotides have been prepared by refluxing an equimolar mixture of thymidine and triethylammonium phosphite in toluene in the presence of elemental sulfur. Desulfurization and subsequent digestion of the products by P1 nuclease revealed that nearly 80% of the internucleosidic linkages thus formed were of the canonical 3´,5´-type.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tuomas Lönnberg
- Department of Chemistry, University of Turku, Vatselankatu 2, FIN-20014 Turku, Finland
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Prebiotic Lipidic Amphiphiles and Condensing Agents on the Early Earth. Life (Basel) 2016; 6:life6020017. [PMID: 27043635 PMCID: PMC4931454 DOI: 10.3390/life6020017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2015] [Revised: 01/18/2016] [Accepted: 02/15/2016] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
It is still uncertain how the first minimal cellular systems evolved to the complexity required for life to begin, but it is obvious that the role of amphiphilic compounds in the origin of life is one of huge relevance. Over the last four decades a number of studies have demonstrated how amphiphilic molecules can be synthesized under plausibly prebiotic conditions. The majority of these experiments also gave evidence for the ability of so formed amphiphiles to assemble in closed membranes of vesicles that, in principle, could have compartmented first biological processes on early Earth, including the emergence of self-replicating systems. For a competitive selection of the best performing molecular replicators to become operative, some kind of bounded units capable of harboring them are indispensable. Without the competition between dynamic populations of different compartments, life itself could not be distinguished from an otherwise disparate array or network of molecular interactions. In this review, we describe experiments that demonstrate how different prebiotically-available building blocks can become precursors of phospholipids that form vesicles. We discuss the experimental conditions that resemble plausibly those of the early Earth (or elsewhere) and consider the analytical methods that were used to characterize synthetic products. Two brief sections focus on phosphorylating agents, catalysts and coupling agents with particular attention given to their geochemical context. In Section 5, we describe how condensing agents such as cyanamide and urea can promote the abiotic synthesis of phospholipids. We conclude the review by reflecting on future studies of phospholipid compartments, particularly, on evolvable chemical systems that include giant vesicles composed of different lipidic amphiphiles.
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La Cruz NL, Qasim D, Abbott-Lyon H, Pirim C, McKee AD, Orlando T, Gull M, Lindsay D, Pasek MA. The evolution of the surface of the mineral schreibersite in prebiotic chemistry. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2016; 18:20160-7. [DOI: 10.1039/c6cp00836d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
We demonstrate a synthesis of the meteoritic mineral schreibersite (Fe,Ni)3P, study its surface chemistry, and show prebiotic phosphorylation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Danna Qasim
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Kennesaw State University
- Kennesaw
- USA
| | - Heather Abbott-Lyon
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Kennesaw State University
- Kennesaw
- USA
| | - Claire Pirim
- Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers
- Atomes et Molécules (PhLAM)
- UMR 8523 CNRS
- 59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq
- France
| | - Aaron D. McKee
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Atlanta
- USA
| | - Thomas Orlando
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Atlanta
- USA
| | - Maheen Gull
- School of Geosciences
- University of South Florida
- NES 204
- Tampa
- USA
| | - Danny Lindsay
- School of Geosciences
- University of South Florida
- NES 204
- Tampa
- USA
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