Phosphoribosyl Pyrophosphate: A Molecular Vestige of the Origin of Life on Minerals

Abstract

In this contribution, we report the formation under prebiotic conditions of phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate (PRPP) as a molecular precursor in the one-pot synthesis of a canonical nucleotide, namely adenosine monophosphate (AMP) from its building blocks (KH₂ PO₄ or P_i , adenine, and d-ribose), on a fumed silica surface. The on-the-rocks approach has been successfully applied to the simultaneous phosphorylation and glycosylation of ribose. The one-pot formation mechanism of AMP involves a two-step pathway via an activated intermediate, namely PRPP, obtained by multiple ribose phosphorylations upon mild thermal activation.

Keywords: nucleotides; one-pot synthesis; origin of life; phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate; surface chemistry.