One theory for the rise of biological molecules in living organisms is the RNA world theory, which states that the first biological molecules were RNA or RNA surrogates. One method proposed for how the molecule replicated was through the presence of the clay mineral montmorillonite as an abiological catalyst. It is also hypothesized that a pH gradient is involved in generating the energy to drive the reaction forward.  Using molecular modeling with an atomistic computational suite we were able to construct a model of montmorillonite and of a modified poly-adenosine chain, replacing the ribose sugar group with glycerol. With the molecular mechanics calculations we determined the effects of alkalinity on the reaction of the modified RNA chain interacting with the montmorillonite clay in terms of the bonding sites and the nature of the bonds formed. We will extend this information to establish the rate of the reaction in the pH ranges that would be available in the primitive environment

Effect of hydroxide ion concentrations on the binding of montmorillonite to RNA surrogates

255th National Meeting (2018)

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