title: The effects of borate minerals on the synthesis of nucleic acid bases, amino acids and biogenic carboxylic acids from formamide.
abstract: The thermal condensation of formamide in the presence of mineral borates is reported. The products afforded are precursors of nucleic acids, amino acids derivatives and carboxylic acids. The efficiency and the selectivity of the reaction was studied in relation to the elemental composition of the 18 minerals analyzed. The possibility of synthesizing at the same time building blocks of both genetic and metabolic apparatuses, along with the production of amino acids, highlights the interest of the formamide/borate system in prebiotic chemistry.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Agrobiologia ed Agrochimica, Università della Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy. saladino@unitus.it
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saladino
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barontini
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cossetti
authors.forename: Ernesto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Di Mauro
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Crestini
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D001881:Borates / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D002234:Carbodiimides / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D002264:Carboxylic Acids / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D005559:Formamides / Q000737:chemistry*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D006358:Hot Temperature; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods; D008903:Minerals / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009694:Nucleic Acid Precursors / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D009696:Nucleic Acids / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D058105:Polymerization; D011687:Purines / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D011725:Pyridines / Q000138:chemical synthesis
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D001881:Borates; D002234:Carbodiimides; D002264:Carboxylic Acids; D005559:Formamides; D008903:Minerals; D009694:Nucleic Acid Precursors; D009696:Nucleic Acids; D011687:Purines; D011725:Pyridines; C031066:formamide; C023500:3-hydroxypyridine