Mechanism of Prebiotic Uracil Synthesis from Urea and HC3O+ in Space

The potential energy surface for the formation of protonated uracil (UH⁺) from urea and HC₃O⁺ was explored by performing quantum chemical complete basis set-QB3 calculations. A barrierless pathway was found for the formation of UH⁺, which was estimated to occur in the interstellar medium (ISM) much faster than the timescale of chemical revolution of typical dense interstellar clouds. Investigation of further reactions of UH⁺ formed through the obtained pathway led to the conclusion that uracil could be produced on icy grain surfaces but not in the gas phase of the ISM.

Autocatalysis in Formose Reaction and Formation of RNA Nucleosides

Understanding of the abiotic formation of nucleosides under geochemical conditions is currently a major scientific challenge. In this study, free radical pathways for formation of RNA nucleosides with canonical nucleobases are proposed for the first time. The pathways proceed with relatively low energy barriers for the formation of ribose as well as all RNA nucleosides. The formose reaction proceeds either with or without Ca²⁺ and CaOH⁺ cations. An autocalytic cycle for the formation of both glycolaldehyde and glyceraldehyde is identified when Ca²⁺ or CaOH⁺ cations are involved in the reaction. The results suggest that Ca²⁺ cations are not involved in the formation of ribose from glyceraldehyde. In addition, these pathways lead to the formation of dihydroxyacetone and d-erythrose. Calculated results show that the glycosidic bond can be formed abiotically between the d-ribose and the nucleobase, where d-ribose forms a cyclic free radical that subsequently reacts with the neutral nucleobase. Involvement of proper nucleobase tautomer is important for the formation of RNA nucleosides. Our approaches provide a solution for the long-standing question of how the glycosidic bond is formed under the abiotic conditions with low energy barriers. The pathways for formation of the sugars without a catalyst are relevant to the formation of sugars in interstellar clouds. On the other hand, the autocalysis in the formose reaction followed by the formation of the nucleosides is appropriate for the abiotic synthesis taking place in the presence of water in the early Earth environment. The Ca²⁺ and CaOH⁺ cations appear to be the first nonenzymatic catalytic systems for formation of biomolecules.

Computer and Experimental Simulation of Alloxazine Synthesis from Gamma Irradiation of Amino Acids on Iceland Spar: A Prebiotic Chemistry Perspective

On ancient Earth, environmental conditions favored prebiotic chemical reactions. In the Archean, some molecules with conjugated rings might have been synthesized, displaying structural stability in the Archean in the presence of ionizing radiation and hydration-dehydration events. Additionally, it is suggested that on ancient Earth, calcite was a common mineral promoting organic compound synthesis. In the present work a study of the interaction of amino acid mixtures with the (104) surface of calcite is presented. Our preliminary results show the abiotic synthesis of alloxazine (a flavin with relevant photochemical properties). Computer simulations were performed in HyperChem 8.0.1. by means of MM⁺ molecular mechanics and PM3 semi-empirical methods, in 27 possible amino acid trimers of alanine, glycine and lysine. Alloxazine formation is possible by the gamma irradiation of amino acids. The computer simulations show that trimers GGG and GGA promote the further transformation from diketopiperazines (DKP's) and KGK to alloxazine. The computer simulations with free radicals are not stable when alloxazine is interacting with the calcite surface. Experiments in anoxygenic environments with hydration-dehydration events in gamma irradiated samples allow the abiotic formation of flavins, DKP's and a heterocycle compound with possible relevance in prebiotic chemistry.

Through bond and through space interactions in dehydro-diazine radicals: a case study of 3c-5e interactions

Owing to the 3c-5e (3-centred-5-electrons) interactions between two nitrogen lone pairs and a radical electron, the dehydrodiazine radical isomers are very interesting from the fundamental point of view. Among them, pyrimidine has three (1a-1c), pyridazine has two (2a and 2b) and pyrazine has only one (3a) radical isomer. Based on quantum chemical calculations at the (U)B3LYP, (U)M06-2X, (U)BLYP, CBS-QB3 and (U)CCSD(T) levels with cc-pVTZ as the basis set, we found the 4-dehydropyrimidine (1b) radical to be the most stable isomer among the three pyrimidine radicals, followed by the 2-dehydropyrimidine (1a) and 5-dehydropyrimidine (1c) radical isomers. In the case of pyridazine, 3-dehydro radical isomer (2a) is more stable than 4-dehydropyridazine (2b). Bond dissociation energy (BDE) calculations and estimation of radical stabilization energies (RSE) using isodesmic reactions revealed the stability order among the six isomeric diazine radicals as 1c < 2b < 2a < 1a < 3a < 1b. Spin densities at each radical centre and non-zero values at nitrogen centres provided information about the extent of delocalization of radical electrons, which was consistent with the relative stability order of all the isomers. The multiconfigurational CASSCF and natural bond orbital (NBO) calculations suggested the presence of direct through space interactions (between lone pairs and a radical, TS) that play a dominant role over the through bond (through intervening bonds, TB) interactions in deciding the stability order. To confirm these results, we have also estimated the proton affinities (PAs) for each nitrogen atom and compared them with their respective parent diazines, where lowering of the PA values convincingly envisaged the extent and strength of interactions between the nitrogen and radical centre. Atoms-in-molecules (AIM) analysis and estimation of hyperfine coupling constants have also been performed to verify these results. All these results showed that the through space interaction between the lone pair and the radical electron is very important for the electronic structural and stability aspects in dehydrodiazine radicals.

Unified reaction pathways for the prebiotic formation of RNA and DNA nucleobases

The reaction pathways for the prebiotic formation of nucleobases are complex and lead to the formation of a mixture of products.