title: Uracil-catalyzed synthesis of acetyl phosphate: a photochemical driver for protometabolism.
abstract: Progress toward a protometabolism (the earliest energy storage networks) has been severely hindered by a shortage of driver reactions, which could have harnessed solar photons or coupled electron sources/sinks on the primordial Earth. Here, it is reported for the first time that thioacetate can be converted into a known metabolite, acetyl phosphate, by ultraviolet light and in aqueous solution at neutral pH. Of more compelling importance, the synthesis is catalyzed by uracil, which suggests that a genetic component may have also facilitated the emergence of metabolic pathways. The chemistry of acetyl phosphate has been extensively studied, and it is known to be a precursor of phosphate esters, pyrophosphate and possibly longer inorganic chains. Moreover, its bifunctional reactivity (as either an acetyl or phosphoryl donor) would have been integral for the first metabolic cycles.
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematics and Science, College of St. Rose, 432 Western Avenue, Albany, NY 12203-1490, USA. haganw@strose.edu
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Hagan
mesh_terms: D002384:Catalysis; D011756:Diphosphates / Q000737:chemistry; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D010755:Organophosphates / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D055668:Photochemical Processes; D014498:Uracil / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011756:Diphosphates; D010755:Organophosphates; D014498:Uracil; C011632:acetyl phosphate