title: Cyanamide mediated syntheses under plausible primitive earth conditions. II. The polymerization of deoxythymidine 5'-triphosphate.
abstract: When an aqueous solution (pH 7.0) of 3H deoxythymidine 5'-triphosphate, deoxythymidine 5'-phosphate, 4-amino-5-imidazolecarboxamide, cyanamide and ammonium chloride was dried and heated at 60 degrees C for 18 h, oligomers were obtained in a yield of approximately 80%. After the chemical degradation of any pyrophosphate bonds present in these oligomers, linear polynucleotides of up to 7-8 units in length were isolated by DEAE cellulose column chromatography and identified by enzymatic digestion procedures. The di- and trinucleotide fractions were degraded 87% and 100% by snake venom phosphodiesterase and 39% and 9% by spleen phosphodiesterase. This synthesis of deoxythymidine oligonucleotides was conducted under potentially prebiotic conditions and may offer a possible method for the synthesis of deoxyoligonucleotides on the primitive Earth.
mesh_terms: D000620:Aminoimidazole Carboxamide; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D006358:Hot Temperature; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000032:analysis; D013938:Thymidine Monophosphate; D013942:Thymine Nucleotides
chemical_list: D009841:Oligonucleotides; D013942:Thymine Nucleotides; D000620:Aminoimidazole Carboxamide; D013938:Thymidine Monophosphate