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Review
. 2021 Jan 18;22(2):917.
doi: 10.3390/ijms22020917.

Prebiotic Organic Chemistry of Formamide and the Origin of Life in Planetary Conditions: What We Know and What Is the Future

Bruno Mattia Bizzarri  1 , Raffaele Saladino  1 , Ines Delfino  1 , Juan Manuel García-Ruiz  2 , Ernesto Di Mauro  1
Affiliations
Review

Prebiotic Organic Chemistry of Formamide and the Origin of Life in Planetary Conditions: What We Know and What Is the Future

Bruno Mattia Bizzarri et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

The goal of prebiotic chemistry is the depiction of molecular evolution events preceding the emergence of life on Earth or elsewhere in the cosmos. Plausible experimental models require geochemical scenarios and robust chemistry. Today we know that the chemical and physical conditions for life to flourish on Earth were at work much earlier than thought, i.e., earlier than 4.4 billion years ago. In recent years, a geochemical model for the first five hundred million years of the history of our planet has been devised that would work as a cradle for life. Serpentinization processes in the Hadean eon affording self-assembled structures and vesicles provides the link between the catalytic properties of the inorganic environment and the impressive chemical potential of formamide to produce complete panels of organic molecules relevant in pre-genetic and pre-metabolic processes. Based on an interdisciplinary approach, we propose basic transformations connecting geochemistry to the chemistry of formamide, and we hint at the possible extension of this perspective to other worlds.

Keywords: biomorphs; formamide; geochemistry; origin of life; prebiotic chemistry.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Scheme 1
Scheme 1
Principal reactions occurring in the Hadean time. Panel A: serpentinization reaction. Panel B: Fischer–Tropsch reaction.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Krebs cycle intermediates produced from HCONH2 and minerals. The color code provides the carboxylic acids that are synthesized in the presence of the reported mineral and energy source. The following references are associated to the color code description of the reactions: (i) red [54,56]; (ii) yellow [57]; (iii) azure [53]; green [51,52]; purple [50]; and dark blue [49].
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