Multicomponent assembly of proposed DNA precursors in water

Crystallization as a selection force at the polymerization of nucleotides in a prebiotic context

Accumulation and selection of nucleotides is one of the most challenging problems surrounding the origin of the first RNA molecules on our planet. In the current work we propose that guanosine 3',5' cyclic monophosphate could selectively crystallize upon evaporation of an acidic prebiotic pool containing various other nucleotides. The conditions of the evaporative crystallization are fully compatible with the subsequent acid catalyzed polymerization of this cyclic nucleotide reported in earlier studies and may be relevant in a broad range of possible prebiotic environments. Albeit cytidine 3',5' cyclic monophosphate has the ability to selectively accumulate under the same conditions, its crystal structure is not likely to support polymer formation.

On the Origin of Sugar Handedness: Facts, Hypotheses and Missing Links-A Review

By paraphrasing one of Kipling's most amazing short stories (How the Leopard Got His Spots), this article could be entitled "How Sugars Became Homochiral". Obviously, we have no answer to this still unsolved mystery, and this perspective simply brings recent models, experiments and hypotheses into the homochiral homogeneity of sugars on earth. We shall revisit the past and current understanding of sugar chirality in the context of prebiotic chemistry, with attention to recent developments and insights. Different scenarios and pathways will be discussed, from the widely known formose-type processes to less familiar ones, often viewed as unorthodox chemical routes. In particular, problems associated with the spontaneous generation of enantiomeric imbalances and the transfer of chirality will be tackled. As carbohydrates are essential components of all cellular systems, astrochemical and terrestrial observations suggest that saccharides originated from environmentally available feedstocks. Such substances would have been capable of sustaining autotrophic and heterotrophic mechanisms integrating nutrients, metabolism and the genome after compartmentalization. Recent findings likewise indicate that sugars' enantiomeric bias may have emerged by a transfer of chirality mechanisms, rather than by deracemization of sugar backbones, yet providing an evolutionary advantage that fueled the cellular machinery.

Formation of the Codon Degeneracy during Interdependent Development between Metabolism and Replication

Nirenberg's genetic code chart shows a profound correspondence between codons and amino acids. The aim of this article is to try to explain the primordial formation of the codon degeneracy. It remains a puzzle how informative molecules arose from the supposed prebiotic random sequences. If introducing an initial driving force based on the relative stabilities of triplex base pairs, the prebiotic sequence evolution became innately nonrandom. Thus, the primordial assignment of the 64 codons to the 20 amino acids has been explained in detail according to base substitutions during the coevolution of tRNAs with aaRSs; meanwhile, the classification of aaRSs has also been explained.

Concurrent Prebiotic Formation of Nucleoside-Amidophosphates and Nucleoside-Triphosphates Potentiates Transition from Abiotic to Biotic Polymerization

Polymerization of nucleic acids in biology utilizes 5'-nucleoside triphosphates (NTPs) as substrates. The prebiotic availability of NTPs has been unresolved and other derivatives of nucleoside-monophosphates (NMPs) have been studied. However, this latter approach necessitates a change in chemistries when transitioning to biology. Herein we show that diamidophosphate (DAP), in a one-pot amidophosphorylation-hydrolysis setting converts NMPs into the corresponding NTPs via 5'-nucleoside amidophosphates (NaPs). The resulting crude mixture of NTPs are accepted by proteinaceous- and ribozyme-polymerases as substrates for nucleic acid polymerization. This phosphorylation also operates at the level of oligonucleotides enabling ribozyme-mediated ligation. This one-pot protocol for simultaneous generation of NaPs and NTPs suggests that the transition from prebiotic-phosphorylation and oligomerization to an enzymatic processive-polymerization can be more continuous than previously anticipated.

Prebiotic Phosphorylation and Concomitant Oligomerization of Deoxynucleosides to form DNA

Recent demonstrations of RNA-DNA chimeras (RDNA) enabling RNA and DNA replication, coupled with prebiotic co-synthesis of deoxyribo- and ribo-nucleotides, have resurrected the hypothesis of co-emergence of RNA and DNA. As further support, we show that diamidophosphate (DAP) with 2-aminoimidazole (amido)phosphorylates and oligomerizes deoxynucleosides to form DNA-under conditions similar to those of ribonucleosides. The pyrimidine deoxynucleoside 5'-O-amidophosphates are formed in good (≈60 %) yields. Intriguingly, the presence of pyrimidine deoxynucleos(t)ides increased the yields of purine deoxynucleotides (≈20 %). Concomitantly, oligomerization (≈18-31 %) is observed with predominantly 3',5'-phosphodiester DNA linkages, and some (<5 %) pyrophosphates. Combined with previous observations of DAP-mediated chemistries and the constructive role of RDNA chimeras, the results reported here help set the stage for systematic investigation of a systems chemistry approach of RNA-DNA coevolution.

α-Aminoazoles/azines: key reaction partners for multicomponent reactions

Aromatic α-aminoazaheterocycles are the focus of significant investigations and exploration by researchers owing to their key role in diverse biological and physiological processes. The existence of their derivatives in numerous drugs and alkaloids is due to their heterocyclic nitrogenous nature. Therefore, the synthesis of a structurally diverse range of their derivatives through simple and convenient methods represents a vital field of synthetic organic chemistry. Multicomponent reactions (MCRs) provide a platform to introduce desirable structure diversity and complexity into a molecule in a single operation with a significant reduction in the use of harmful organic waste, and hence have attracted particular attention as an excellent tool to access these derivatives. This review covers the advances made from 2010 to the beginning of 2020 in terms of the utilization of α-aminoazaheterocycles as synthetic precursors in MCRs.

Prebiotic synthesis of cysteine peptides that catalyze peptide ligation in neutral water

Peptide biosynthesis is performed by ribosomes and several other classes of enzymes, but a simple chemical synthesis may have created the first peptides at the origins of life. α-Aminonitriles-prebiotic α-amino acid precursors-are generally produced by Strecker reactions. However, cysteine's aminothiol is incompatible with nitriles. Consequently, cysteine nitrile is not stable, and cysteine has been proposed to be a product of evolution, not prebiotic chemistry. We now report a high-yielding, prebiotic synthesis of cysteine peptides. Our biomimetic pathway converts serine to cysteine by nitrile-activated dehydroalanine synthesis. We also demonstrate that N-acylcysteines catalyze peptide ligation, directly coupling kinetically stable-but energy-rich-α-amidonitriles to proteinogenic amines. This rare example of selective and efficient organocatalysis in water implicates cysteine as both catalyst and precursor in prebiotic peptide synthesis.

A continuous reaction network that produces RNA precursors

Continuous reaction networks, which do not rely on purification or timely additions of reagents, serve as models for chemical evolution and have been demonstrated for compounds thought to have played important roles for the origins of life such as amino acids, hydroxy acids, and sugars. Step-by-step chemical protocols for ribonucleotide synthesis are known, but demonstrating their synthesis in the context of continuous reaction networks remains a major challenge. Herein, compounds proposed to be important for prebiotic RNA synthesis, including glycolaldehyde, cyanamide, 2-aminooxazole, and 2-aminoimidazole, are generated from a continuous reaction network, starting from an aqueous mixture of NaCl, NH4Cl, phosphate, and HCN as the only carbon source. No well-timed addition of any other reagents is required. The reaction network is driven by a combination of γ radiolysis and dry-down. γ Radiolysis results in a complex mixture of organics, including the glycolaldehyde-derived glyceronitrile and cyanamide. This mixture is then dried down, generating free glycolaldehyde that then reacts with cyanamide/NH3 to furnish a combination of 2-aminooxazole and 2-aminoimidazole. This continuous reaction network models how precursors for generating RNA and other classes of compounds may arise spontaneously from a complex mixture that originates from simple reagents.

Proton-Induced Charge Transfer on Imidazole and 2-Aminoimidazole. Role of the Substituent and Influence of Stepwise Hydration

The behavior of potential prebiotic species in space is of main concern in the chemistry at the origin of life. Their reactivity or stability in spatial conditions, under strong UV radiations or ion bombardments, remains an open question and needs wide investigations. As protons are by far the most abundant ions in space, we focus presently on proton-induced collisions on imidazole and 2-aminoimidazole evidenced as important prebiotic RNA intermediates. Unconstrained full optimization of the structures was performed with B3LYP/cc-pVTZ model chemistry. The calculations were performed in a wide collision energy range in order to model various astrophysical environments, from eV in the interstellar medium, up to keV for solar winds or supernovae shock-wave protons. Such a study provides for the first time a theoretical insight on the influence of the amino substituent on the proton-induced charge transfer. We evaluated the role of icy grain environments through a cluster approach modeling the effect of a stepwise microhydration on the process. Comparisons with oxygenated and sulfurated analogues address further qualitative trends on the respective stability or reactivity of such heterocycles which may be of tremendous interest in prebiotic chemistry. Charge transfer appears to be quite efficient for imidazole compounds and their sulfurated analogue compared to the oxygenated heterocycle.

Chemistry of Abiotic Nucleotide Synthesis

The chemistry of abiotic nucleotide synthesis of RNA and DNA in the context of their prebiotic origins on early earth is a continuing challenge. How did (or how can) the nucleotides form and assemble from the small molecule inventories and under conditions that prevailed on early earth 3.5-4 billion years ago? This review provides a background and up-to-date progress that will allow the reader to judge where the field stands currently and what remains to be achieved. We start with a brief primer on the biological synthesis of nucleotides, followed by an extensive focus on the prebiotic formation of the components of nucleotides-either via the synthesis of ribose and the canonical nucleobases and then joining them together or by building both the conjoined sugar and nucleobase, part-by-part-toward the ultimate goal of forming RNA and DNA by polymerization. The review will emphasize that there are-and will continue to be-many more questions than answers from the synthetic, mechanistic, and analytical perspectives. We wrap up the review with a cautionary note in this context about coming to conclusions as to whether the problem of chemistry of prebiotic nucleotide synthesis has been solved.

The role of sugar-backbone heterogeneity and chimeras in the simultaneous emergence of RNA and DNA

Hypotheses of the origins of RNA and DNA are generally centred on the prebiotic synthesis of a pristine system (pre-RNA or RNA), which gives rise to its descendent. However, a lack of specificity in the synthesis of genetic polymers would probably result in chimeric sequences; the roles and fate of such sequences are unknown. Here, we show that chimeras, exemplified by mixed threose nucleic acid (TNA)-RNA and RNA-DNA oligonucleotides, preferentially bind to, and act as templates for, homogeneous TNA, RNA and DNA ligands. The chimeric templates can act as a catalyst that mediates the ligation of oligomers to give homogeneous backbone sequences, and the regeneration of the chimeric templates potentiates a scenario for a possible cross-catalytic cycle with amplification. This process provides a proof-of-principle demonstration of a heterogeneity-to-homogeneity scenario and also gives credence to the idea that DNA could appear concurrently with RNA, instead of being its later descendent.

The origin of the central dogma through conflicting multilevel selection

The central dogma of molecular biology rests on two kinds of asymmetry between genomes and enzymes: informatic asymmetry, where information flows from genomes to enzymes but not from enzymes to genomes; and catalytic asymmetry, where enzymes provide chemical catalysis but genomes do not. How did these asymmetries originate? Here, we show that these asymmetries can spontaneously arise from conflict between selection at the molecular level and selection at the cellular level. We developed a model consisting of a population of protocells, each containing a population of replicating catalytic molecules. The molecules are assumed to face a trade-off between serving as catalysts and serving as templates. This trade-off causes conflicting multilevel selection: serving as catalysts is favoured by selection between protocells, whereas serving as templates is favoured by selection between molecules within protocells. This conflict induces informatic and catalytic symmetry breaking, whereby the molecules differentiate into genomes and enzymes, establishing the central dogma. We show mathematically that the symmetry breaking is caused by a positive feedback between Fisher’s reproductive values and the relative impact of selection at different levels. This feedback induces a division of labour between genomes and enzymes, provided variation at the molecular level is sufficiently large relative to variation at the cellular level, a condition that is expected to hinder the evolution of altruism. Taken together, our results suggest that the central dogma is a logical consequence of conflicting multilevel selection.

Interactions of Amino Acids and Aminoxazole Derivatives: Cocrystal Formation and Prebiotic Implications Enabled by Computational Analysis

In line with the postulated intermediacy of aminoxazoles derived from small sugars toward the direct assembly of nucleoside precursors, we show here a potential prebiotic scenario where aminoxazolines might have also played further roles as complexing and/or sequestering agents of other primeval blocks, namely amino acids. To this end, a bis-aminoxazoline derivative, generated from dihydroxyacetone and cyanamide, gives rise to stable co-crystal forms with dicarboxylic amino acids (Asp and Glu), while ionic interactions owing to proton transfer are inferred from spectroscopic data in aqueous solution. The structure of a 1:2 aminoxazoline: aspartic acid complex, discussed in detail, was elucidated by X-ray diffractometry. Optimized geometries of such ionic structures with bulk aqueous solvation were assessed by DFT calculations, which disclose preferential arrangements that validate the experimental data. Peripherally, we were able to detect in a few cases amino acid dimerization (i.e. dipeptide formation) after prolonged incubation with the bis-aminoxazole derivative. A mechanistic simulation aided by computation provides some predictive conclusions for future explorations and catalytic design.

Prebiotic phosphorylation of 2-thiouridine provides either nucleotides or DNA building blocks via photoreduction

Breakthroughs in the study of the origin of life have demonstrated how some of the building blocks essential to biology could have been formed under various primordial scenarios, and could therefore have contributed to the chemical evolution of life. Missing building blocks are then sometimes inferred to be products of primitive biosynthesis, which can stretch the limits of plausibility. Here, we demonstrate the synthesis of 2'-deoxy-2-thiouridine, and subsequently 2'-deoxyadenosine and 2-deoxyribose, under prebiotic conditions. 2'-Deoxy-2-thiouridine is produced by photoreduction of 2,2'-anhydro-2-thiouridine, which is in turn formed by phosphorylation of 2-thiouridine-an intermediate of prebiotic RNA synthesis. 2'-Deoxy-2-thiouridine is an effective deoxyribosylating agent and may have functioned as such in either abiotic or proto-enzyme-catalysed pathways to DNA, as demonstrated by its conversion to 2'-deoxyadenosine by reaction with adenine, and 2-deoxyribose by hydrolysis. An alternative prebiotic phosphorylation of 2-thiouridine leads to the formation of its 5'-phosphate, showing that hypotheses in which 2-thiouridine was a key component of early RNA sequences are within the bounds of synthetic credibility.

Role of sulfur in proton-induced collisions of RNA prebiotic precursors

A main objective in the synthesis of prebiotic compounds is to remain consistent with reasonable geochemical scenarios, while avoiding concomitant formation of undesirable by-products. In this context, 2-aminothiazole has shown enhanced selectivity in the addition reaction with sugars promoting interest in this sulfur species compared to its oxygenated analogue, 2-aminooxazole. More generally, the role of sulfur in prebiotic chemistry needs to be widely investigated with regard to the numerous sulfur-containing molecules detected recently in different astrophysical environments. However, in parallel to the problematic formation of building blocks of life, how prebiotic molecules could survive under extreme astrophysical conditions remains an open question. Intense UV radiation or ion bombardment may indeed lead to fragmentation and the specific behaviour of sulfur compounds has to be addressed. Focusing on its potentiality in prebiotic multistep synthesis, a detailed analysis of the proton impact on 2-aminothiazole has been investigated theoretically in a wide collision energy range chosen to model various astrophysical environments. The comparison with its oxygenated analogue may suggest qualitative trends on their respective stability under such processes which could be of crucial interest for prebiotic synthesis.

Heterogeneous Pyrophosphate-Linked DNA-Oligonucleotides: Aversion to DNA but Affinity for RNA

Pyrophosphate linkages are important in extant biology and are hypothesized to have played a role in prebiotic chemistry and in the origination of oligonucleotides. Inspired by pyrophosphate as backbones of primordial oligomers, DNA oligomers with varying amounts of pyrophosphate inserts (ppDNA) were synthesized and investigated for their base-pairing properties. As expected, pyrophosphate inserts into the backbone compromised the thermal stability of ppDNA-DNA duplexes. In contrast, the ppDNA-RNA duplex exhibited, remarkably, duplex stability, even with accumulation of pyrophosphate linkages. This seems to be a consequence of an increase in the diameter of the double-helix with eight-bond-repeat units, and higher inclination of the base-pair axis with respect to the backbone in RNA (A-form), compared with that in DNA (B-form). These results suggest that pyrophosphate-linked oligonucleotides could harbor functional capabilities with implications for their roles in the origins of life and chemical biology.

Evolution of specific 3'-5'-linkages in RNA in pre-biotic soup: a new hypothesis

This article reviews the different possibilities towards progression of the formation of DNA/RNA in the chemical world, before life, in enzyme-free conditions. The advent of deoxyribo- and ribopentose-sugars, nucleosides, nucleotides and oligonucleotides in the prebiotic soup is briefly discussed. Further, the formation of early single stranded oligomers, base-pairing possibilities and information transfer based on the stability parameters of the derived duplexes is reviewed. Each theory has its own merits and demerits which we have elaborated upon. Lastly, using clues from this literature, a possible explanation for the specific 3'-5'-linkages in RNA is proposed.

A Chemist's Perspective on the Role of Phosphorus at the Origins of Life

The central role that phosphates play in biological systems, suggests they also played an important role in the emergence of life on Earth. In recent years, numerous important advances have been made towards understanding the influence that phosphates may have had on prebiotic chemistry, and here, we highlight two important aspects of prebiotic phosphate chemistry. Firstly, we discuss prebiotic phosphorylation reactions; we specifically contrast aqueous electrophilic phosphorylation, and aqueous nucleophilic phosphorylation strategies, with dry-state phosphorylations that are mediated by dissociative phosphoryl-transfer. Secondly, we discuss the non-structural roles that phosphates can play in prebiotic chemistry. Here, we focus on the mechanisms by which phosphate has guided prebiotic reactivity through catalysis or buffering effects, to facilitating selective transformations in neutral water. Several prebiotic routes towards the synthesis of nucleotides, amino acids, and core metabolites, that have been facilitated or controlled by phosphate acting as a general acid-base catalyst, pH buffer, or a chemical buffer, are outlined. These facile and subtle mechanisms for incorporation and exploitation of phosphates to orchestrate selective, robust prebiotic chemistry, coupled with the central and universally conserved roles of phosphates in biochemistry, provide an increasingly clear message that understanding phosphate chemistry will be a key element in elucidating the origins of life on Earth.

Divergent prebiotic synthesis of pyrimidine and 8-oxo-purine ribonucleotides

Understanding prebiotic nucleotide synthesis is a long standing challenge thought to be essential to elucidating the origins of life on Earth. Recently, remarkable progress has been made, but to date all proposed syntheses account separately for the pyrimidine and purine ribonucleotides; no divergent synthesis from common precursors has been proposed. Moreover, the prebiotic syntheses of pyrimidine and purine nucleotides that have been demonstrated operate under mutually incompatible conditions. Here, we tackle this mutual incompatibility by recognizing that the 8-oxo-purines share an underlying generational parity with the pyrimidine nucleotides. We present a divergent synthesis of pyrimidine and 8-oxo-purine nucleotides starting from a common prebiotic precursor that yields the β-ribo-stereochemistry found in the sugar phosphate backbone of biological nucleic acids. The generational relationship between pyrimidine and 8-oxo-purine nucleotides suggests that 8-oxo-purine ribonucleotides may have played a key role in primordial nucleic acids prior to the emergence of the canonical nucleotides of biology.

A theoretical insight into the formation mechanisms of C/N-ribonucleosides with pyrimidine and ribose

The detailed formation mechanisms of C-ribonucleoside and N-ribonucleoside via the reaction of 2,4,6-triaminopyrimidine (TAP) with (d)-ribose in aqueous solution were explored using density functional theory (DFT). The calculations indicate that five isomers (α,β-furanose, α,β-pyranose and open-chain aldehyde) of (d)-ribose can exist in equilibrium in aqueous solution. In contrast to cyclic isomers, an open-chain aldehyde is most feasible to react with TAP. In general, the formation pathways of C-nucleoside and N-nucleoside proceed in three steps including nucleophilic addition, dehydration and cyclization. The calculated apparent activation energies are 28.8 kcal mol^-1 and 29.2 kcal mol^-1, respectively. It suggests that both C- and N-nucleoside can be formed in aqueous solution, which is in good agreement with the experimental results. The water molecule plays an important "H-bridge" role by the hydrogen atom relay. Finally, a model structure of nucleobase, which will be beneficial for the C-C glycosidic bond formation, is proposed.

Atom-Economic Synthesis of 4-Pyrones from Diynones and Water

Transition-metal-free synthesis of 4-pyrones via TfOH-promoted nucleophilic addition/cyclization of diynones and water has been developed. This transformation is simple, atom economical and environmentally benign, providing rapid and efficient access to substituted 4-pyrones.

Prebiotic synthesis of 2-deoxy-d-ribose from interstellar building blocks promoted by amino esters or amino nitriles

Amino esters and amino nitriles can promote the selective formation of 2-deoxy-d-ribose from materials present in interstellar ices. The use of amino nitriles suggests the possibility that carbohydrates may have existed before amino acids on the prebiotic Earth.

Isocyano compounds newly recognized in photochemical reaction of thiazole: matrix-isolation FT-IR and theoretical studies

UV-induced photoreactions of thiazole isolated in low-temperature argon matrices have been investigated, leading to the conclusion that photoproducts identified newly, including three kind isocyano compounds, are produced by ring-opening reaction.

One-step protecting-group-free synthesis of azepinomycin in water

We report an efficient, atom economical general acid-base catalyzed one-step multi-gram synthesis of azepinomycin from commercially available compounds in water. We propose that the described pH-dependent Amadori rearrangement, which couples an amino-imidazole and simple sugar, is of importance as a potential step toward predisposed purine nucleotide synthesis at the origins of life.

Four-component reaction between naphthols, substituted β-nitrostyrenes, substituted benzaldehydes and ammonium acetate in water–PEG-400: an approach to construct polysubstituted naphthofuranamines

The diversity-oriented synthesis of naphtho[b]furans via a four-component reaction between naphthanols, substituted β-nitrostyrenes, substituted benzaldehydes and ammonium acetate has been developed.

Abiotic synthesis of RNA in water: a common goal of prebiotic chemistry and bottom-up synthetic biology

For more than half a century chemists have searched for a plausible prebiotic synthesis of RNA. The initial advances of the 1960s and 1970s were followed by decades of measured progress and a growing pessimism about overcoming remaining challenges. Fortunately, the past few years have provided a number of important advances, including new abiotic routes for the synthesis of nucleobases, nucleosides, and nucleotides. Recent discoveries also provide additional support for the hypothesis that RNA is the product of evolution, being preceded by ancestral genetic polymers, or pre-RNAs, that are synthesized more easily than RNA. In some cases, parallel searches for plausible prebiotic routes to RNA and pre-RNAs have provided more than one experimentally verified synthesis of RNA substructures and possible predecessors. Just as the synthesis of a contemporary biological molecule cannot be understood without knowledge of cellular metabolism, it is likely that an integrated approach that takes into account both plausible prebiotic reactions and plausible prebiotic environments will ultimately provide the most satisfactory and unifying chemical scenarios for the origin of nucleic acids. In this context, recent advances towards the abiotic synthesis of RNA and candidates for pre-RNAs are beginning to suggest that some molecules (e.g., urea) were multi-faceted contributors to the origin of nucleic acids, and the origin of life.

Formaldehyde-a key monad of the biomolecular system

Experiments will be presented and reviewed to support the hypothesis that the intrinsic reactivity of formaldehyde may lead to the formation of a rather comprehensive set of defined biomolecules, including D-glucose, thus fostering concepts of evolution considering the existence of a premetabolic system as a primordial step in the generation of life.

Synthetic polymers and their potential as genetic materials

DNA and RNA are the only known natural genetic materials. Systematic modification of each of their chemical building blocks (nucleobase, sugar, and phosphate) has enabled the study of the key properties that make those nucleic acids genetic materials. All three moieties contribute to replication and, significantly, all three moieties can be replaced by synthetic analogs without loss of function. Synthetic nucleic acid polymers capable of storing and propagating information not only expand the central dogma, but also highlight that DNA and RNA are not unique chemical solutions for genetic information storage. By considering replication as a question of information transfer, we propose that any polymer that can be replicated could serve as a genetic material.

Photogeneration of benzhydryl cations by near-UV laser flash photolysis of pyridinium salts

Laser flash irradiation of substituted N-benzhydryl pyridinium salts yields benzhydryl cations (diarylcarbenium ions) and/or benzhydryl radicals (diarylmethyl radicals). The use of 3,4,5-triamino-substituted pyridines as photoleaving groups allowed us to employ the third harmonic of a Nd/YAG laser (355 nm) for the photogeneration of benzhydryl cations. In this way, benzhydryl cations can also be photogenerated in the presence of aromatic compounds and in solvents which are opaque at the wavelength of the quadrupled Nd/YAG laser (266 nm). To demonstrate the scope and limitations of this method, the rate constants for the bimolecular reactions of benzhydryl cations with several substituted pyridines were determined in acetonitrile and with water in acetone. The obtained data agree with results obtained by stopped-flow UV-vis spectroscopic measurements. The rate constants for the reaction of the 4,4'-bis[methyl(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)amino]benzhydrylium ion with 4-(dimethylamino)pyridine were also determined in dimethyl sulfoxide, N,N-dimethylformamide, and acetone. From the second-order rate constants, we derived the nucleophilicity parameters N and s(N) for the substituted pyridines, as defined by the linear free energy relationship, log k(2) = s(N)(N + E).