A core goal of research in the Center for Chemical Evolution has been the demonstration of the spontaneous assembly of chemical building blocks into proto-biopolymers capable of rudimentary function. This search has required the identification of viable syntheses of monomeric building blocks from small molecules that can plausibly be sustained by the environment. These explorations have been driven by discoveries in the CCE that specific molecules can provide solutions to multiple problems in prebiotic chemistry, such as nucleosidation, end-product inhibition, and polymer condensation. We have been seeking to map reaction pathways that potentially link together these molecules into an early proto-metabolism with tangible links to the chemistry of modern metabolism. These studies have led to the discovery of multiple networks of reactions based on the chemistry of alpha-ketoacids that generate building blocks for protopeptides, depsipeptides, and protonucleic acids.  The reactions generally proceed under mild conditions to provide intermediates that parallel or are identical to those found in modern biology. For example, a reaction pathway will be shown that starts from the two smallest alpha-ketoacids, glyoxylate and pyruvate, to produce the corresponding alpha-ketoacid equivalents of intermediates of the reductive citric acid cycle, in the same order as modern biology, without catalysts and in a single pot. The elucidation of environments that facilitate these reactions may help constrain the conditions under which functional biopolymers emerged, metabolisms evolved and ultimately, guide the search for life in the universe.<br/>

Proto-metabolic pathways to the building blocks of early biopolymers

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.