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Review
. 2022 Jul 13:10:941228.
doi: 10.3389/fchem.2022.941228. eCollection 2022.

Prebiotic Chemistry: The Role of Trimetaphosphate in Prebiotic Chemical Evolution

Dingwei Gan  1   2 , Jianxi Ying  1   2 , Yufen Zhao  1   2   3
Affiliations
Review

Prebiotic Chemistry: The Role of Trimetaphosphate in Prebiotic Chemical Evolution

Dingwei Gan et al. Front Chem. .

Abstract

Life's origins have always been a scientific puzzle. Understanding the production of biomolecules is crucial for understanding the evolution of life on Earth. Numerous studies on trimetaphosphate have been conducted in the field of prebiotic chemistry. However, its role in prebiotic chemistry has been documented infrequently in the review literature. The goal of this thesis is to review the role of trimetaphosphate in the early Earth's biomolecule synthesis and phosphorylation. Additionally, various trimetaphosphate-mediated reaction pathways are discussed, as well as the role of trimetaphosphate in prebiotic chemistry. Finally, in our opinion, interactions between biomolecules should be considered in prebiotic synthesis scenarios since this may result in some advances in subsequent research on this subject. The research establishes an essential and opportune foundation for an in-depth examination of the "mystery of life".

Keywords: nucleotide; origin of life; peptide; prebiotic chemistry; trimetaphosphate.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Reaction for the condensation of amino acids in water to dipeptides.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Wet and dry cycle diagram.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Reaction mechanism of Gly2 formation from P3m in alkaline solution [redrawn from (Chung et al., 1971)].
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Reaction of nucleoside 5′-triphosphate formation mediated by P3m.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Reaction of NTPs formation with P3m in the presence of DABCO.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Reaction mechanism of dipeptide formation from P3m in acidic solution [redrawn from (Ying et al., 2021)].
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Reaction pathway for phosphate-catalyzed synthesis of nucleoside prebiotic sources in the presence of formamide.
FIGURE 8
FIGURE 8
Formation mechanism of N-phosphorylated amino acids.
FIGURE 9
FIGURE 9
Reaction of Glycerol phosphorylation with P3m.
FIGURE 10
FIGURE 10
(A) The chemical model of the co-origin of codons and proteins; (B) Formation of the 5′-aa-AMP in organism.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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