title: Borophosphates and silicophosphates as plausible contributors to the emergence of life.
abstract: Scientific explanations for the origin of life are incomplete and may differ on some issues. Here, we argue that some prebiological steps have occurred in environments with borophosphates and/or silicophosphates in the form of hydrogels, on the basis of their chemical groups and structural properties. These could have decreased the diffusion rate of some prebiotic molecules, stabilized molecules with vicinal cis-diol groups, reduced the hydrolytic activity of water and inserted catalytic metal ions into their networks. Additionally, these hydrogels could have acted as reaction media, supplied a phosphate source for phosphorylations and produced crystals that may have permitted enantiomeric enrichment of prebiotic molecules, thus providing conditions for the emergence of protocells.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Química Estrutural, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal. Electronic address: pcd1950@ist.utl.pt.
authors.forename: José A L
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.affiliation: Department of Geological Sciences, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: nils.holm@geo.su.se.
authors.forename: Nils G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Holm
mesh_terms: D001896:Boron Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D000069497:Origin of Life; D010710:Phosphates / Q000737:chemistry*; D017655:Silicon Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001896:Boron Compounds; D020100:Hydrogels; D010710:Phosphates; D017655:Silicon Compounds
keywords: Enantiomeric enrichment; Homochirality emergence; Prebiological evolution; Prebiological phosphorylations; Prebiotic chemistry; Smectite