title: A plausible simultaneous synthesis of amino acids and simple peptides on the primordial Earth.
abstract: Following his seminal work in 1953, Stanley Miller conducted an experiment in 1958 to study the polymerization of amino acids under simulated early Earth conditions. In the experiment, Miller sparked a gas mixture of CH4, NH3, and H2O, while intermittently adding the plausible prebiotic condensing reagent cyanamide. For unknown reasons, an analysis of the samples was not reported. We analyzed the archived samples for amino acids, dipeptides, and diketopiperazines by liquid chromatography, ion mobility spectrometry, and mass spectrometry. A dozen amino acids, 10 glycine-containing dipeptides, and 3 glycine-containing diketopiperazines were detected. Miller's experiment was repeated and similar polymerization products were observed. Aqueous heating experiments indicate that Strecker synthesis intermediates play a key role in facilitating polymerization. These results highlight the potential importance of condensing reagents in generating diversity within the prebiotic chemical inventory.
authors: School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, 901 Atlantic Drive NW, Atlanta, GA 30332 (USA).
authors: Eric T
authors: ET
authors: Parker
authors: Manshui
authors: M
authors: Zhou
authors: Aaron S
authors: AS
authors: Burton
authors: Daniel P
authors: DP
authors: Glavin
authors: Jason P
authors: JP
authors: Dworkin
authors: Ramanarayanan
authors: R
authors: Krishnamurthy
authors: Facundo M
authors: FM
authors: Fernández
authors: Jeffrey L
authors: JL
authors: Bada
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D018534:Earth, Planet; D010455:Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis*
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D010455:Peptides
keywords: amino acids; cyanamide; mass spectrometry; peptides; polymerization