title: Phosphorus: a case for mineral-organic reactions in prebiotic chemistry.
abstract: The ubiquity of phosphorus (P) in modern biochemistry suggests that P may have participated in prebiotic chemistry prior to the emergence of life. Of the major biogenic elements, phosphorus alone lacks a substantial volatile phase and its ultimate source therefore had to have been a mineral. However, as most native P minerals are chemically un-reactive within the temperature-pressure-pH regimes of contemporary life, it begs the question as to whether the most primitive early living systems on earth had access to a more chemically reactive P-mineral inventory. The meteoritic mineral schreibersite has been proposed as an important source of reactive P on the early earth. The chemistry of schreibersite as a P source is summarized and reviewed here. Recent work has also shown that reduced oxidation state P compounds were present on the early earth; these compounds lend credence to the relevance of schreibersite as a prebiotic mineral. Ultimately, schreibersite will oxidize to phosphate, but several high-energy P intermediates may have provided the reactive material necessary for incorporating P into prebiotic molecules.
authors.affiliation: School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, 4202 E Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL, 33620, USA, mpasek@usf.edu.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pasek
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Herschy
authors.forename: Terence P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Kee
mesh_terms: D018534:Earth, Planet; D019418:Evolution, Chemical; D019110:Meteoroids; D008903:Minerals / Q000737:chemistry*; D000069497:Origin of Life; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D008903:Minerals; D014867:Water; D010758:Phosphorus