title: Prebiotic synthesis of vitamin B6-type compounds.
abstract: Heating a dilute solution of NH3 and glycoaldehyde gives a large family of pyridines substituted with the same functional groups as occur in the forms of vitamin B6. Thus, vitamin B6-like molecules could have been present on the early Earth and could have been available for catalysis of primitive transamination reactions. Ethanolamine and N-methylethanolamine are also formed as major products. These are choline-like molecules, the latter of which is apparently formed by a prebiotic methylation process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga 37403, USA.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.forename: T G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Waddell
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008745:Methylation; D011736:Pyridoxine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000641:Ammonia; D011736:Pyridoxine