Illuminating Life’s Origins: UV Photochemistry in Abiotic Synthesis of Biomolecules

Solar radiation is the principal source of energy available to Earth and has unmatched potential for the synthesis of organic material from primordial molecular building blocks. As well as providing the energy for photochemical synthesis of (proto)­biomolecules of interest in origins of life-related...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American Chemical Society 2021-05, Vol.143 (19), p.7219-7236
Main Authors: Green, Nicholas J, Xu, Jianfeng, Sutherland, John D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Earth, Planet
Nitriles - chemical synthesis
Nitriles - chemistry
Origin of Life
Photochemical Processes
Solar Energy
Ultraviolet Rays
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Summary:Solar radiation is the principal source of energy available to Earth and has unmatched potential for the synthesis of organic material from primordial molecular building blocks. As well as providing the energy for photochemical synthesis of (proto)­biomolecules of interest in origins of life-related research, light has also been found to often provide remarkable selectivity in these processes, for molecules that function in extant biology and against those that do not. As such, light is heavily implicated as an environmental input on the nascent Earth that was important for the emergence of complex yet selective chemical systems underpinning life. Reactivity and selectivity in photochemical prebiotic synthesis are discussed, as are their implications for origins of life scenarios and their plausibility, and the future directions of this research.
ISSN:0002-7863
1520-5126
DOI:10.1021/jacs.1c01839