title: New polyazaporphine chemistry for the origin of life.
abstract: Molecular orbital spectral predictions suggest that 2,5,7,10,12,15,17,20-octaaza-21H, 23H-porphine has a visible spectral range closely matching that of chlorophyll-a. Since the octaazaporphine is, in its core, a simple derivative of an (HCN)12 oligomer, this fact, together with its spectral properties, would suggest that it occupies a high rank as a primordial porphinic solar energy transducer for photochemistry essential to life's formation. The demonstration that the mass 324 hexahydrooctaazaporphine is formed in protic media by the cyclotetramerization of imidazol-4-aminohydroxonium ion or the derived nitrenium ion, and that a mass 318 species consonant with that of the Huckel aromatic octaazaporphine is observed in the course of these studies, strongly supports the proposed octaazaporphine synthesis in a prebiotic hydrocyanic acid milieu.
authors.affiliation: E.I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc.,  Wilmington, Delaware 19898, USA.
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Neumer
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: C N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: McEwen
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Peacock
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: McKay
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lazar
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Valentine
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Van Lenten
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Foris
mesh_terms: D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000737:chemistry; D000077194:Chlorophyll A; D006856:Hydrogen Cyanide / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D007477:Ions; D017672:Nitrogen Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D009593:Nitroimidazoles / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D000069497:Origin of Life; D010777:Photochemistry; D011166:Porphyrins / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D013472:Sunlight
chemical_list: D007477:Ions; D017672:Nitrogen Compounds; D009593:Nitroimidazoles; D011166:Porphyrins; D002734:Chlorophyll; D006856:Hydrogen Cyanide; D000077194:Chlorophyll A