RNA Synthesis on Minerals

在有机合成计划的支持下，詹姆斯·P·费里斯教授研究了矿物上核糖核酸的合成。这项工作在伦斯勒理工学院化学系进行，重点是粘土矿物介导的核糖核苷酸之间磷酸二酯键的形成。通过在蒙脱石粘土上延伸RNA引物，产生了含有30到50个碱基的随机序列的RNA低聚体套件，其中具有高比例的3‘，5’-磷酸二酯键。对这些低聚物进行催化活性测试，以提供从益生化学到催化活性的实验室演示，正如RNA世界对生命起源的假设。还探索了粘土催化的外消旋核苷酸合成同手性RNA的方法，有助于揭示手性的起源。选择在矿物表面合成RNA的看似合理的激活基团来代表那些可能在原始地球条件下普遍存在的基团，并进行抑制剂研究，以帮助指导寻找具有类似或更好催化能力的其他矿物。关于生命的起源仍有许多悬而未决的问题，从最基本的化学层面开始，即第一代催化剂(促进其他分子反应的材料)是如何进化的。Ferris教授研究了粘土矿物在催化分子形成中的作用，这些分子代表着可能的生命前体，重点是核糖核酸(RNA)的合成，而核糖核酸又可能成为合成更复杂分子的催化剂。这些研究还解决了生命分子如何获得手性这一独特结构特征的根本问题，其中许多生物活性分子显示出与其镜像不同的三维结构(就像右手和左手不同一样)。

With support from the Organic Synthesis Program, Professor James P. Ferris studies the synthesis of ribonucleic acids on minerals. This work, carried out in the Department of Chemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, focuses on clay mineral-mediated formation of phosphodiester linkages between ribonucleotides. Suites of RNA oligomers containing random sequences of thirty to fifty bases with a high proportion of 3',5'-phosphodiester linkages are produced via RNA primer elongation on montmorillonite clay. These oligomers are tested for catalytic activity in order to provide a laboratory demonstration of the transition from prebiotic chemistry to catalytic activity as postulated by the RNA world scenario for the origins of life. Clay-catalyzed synthesis of homochiral RNAs from racemic nucleotides is also explored, helping to shed light on the origins of chirality. Plausible activating groups for the synthesis of RNA on mineral surfaces are chosen to represent those likely to have been prevalent under primitive earth conditions, and inhibitor studies are carried out in order to help direct the search for other minerals with comparable or superior catalytic capabilities. Many unanswered questions remain about the origins of life, beginning at the very basic chemical level of how the first catalysts (materials which facilitate the reactions of other molecules) evolved. Professor Ferris examines the role of clay minerals in catalyzing the formation of molecules representing the possible precursors to life, focusing on the synthesis of ribonucleic acids (RNA) which in turn may function as catalysts for the synthesis of still more complex molecules. These studies also address the fundamental question of how life's molecules acquired the unique structural feature of chirality, wherein many biologically active molecules display a three-dimensional structure distinct from that of their mirror image (just as a right hand differs from a left hand).