Did Nature use Reduced Oxidation State Phosphorus in Prebiotic Chemistry? Strengthening the Case for a Non-Phosphate World prior to the RNA-World

大自然在生命起源化学中是否使用了还原氧化态磷？

• 批准号: EP/F042582/1
• 负责人: David Greenfield
• 金额: $ 3.51万
• 依托单位: Sheffield Hallam University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2008 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FF042582%2F1
• 关键词: Did; Nature; use; Reduced; Oxidation

Phosphate is a key ingredient in all life on Earth. Phosphate is everywhere on Earth, we dig it out of the ground as a calcium salt, we use it to brush our teeth, we consume it in food and drink every day. However, despite it being a rather common chemical, it is by no means certain that Nature chose phosphate for the earliest forms of life on Earth. A large part of the problem is that phosphate chemicals are both extremely insoluble and very unreactive chemically. In 1955, the scientist Addison Gulick proposed that this phosphate problem could have been solved if other forms of phosphorus were available on the early Earth. These chemicals, called phosphonates and phosphinates, are close relatives of phosphate but are both more soluble and chemically reactive in water. The problem is that phosphonates and phosphinates are unkown on Earth today because over the millennia, the chemical environment of Earth has changed to such a degree that only phosphates are now stable. However, we have recently discovered that phosphinates and phosphonates could have been readily available to prebiotic chemistry on the early Earth through chemical reactions of iron-rich meteorites with water in the presence of light. This discovery allows us to explore in detail the potential of phosphonates and phosphinates in the origin-of-life problem for the first time with a degree of confidence that such chemistry could have been available on the early Earth.This project is built in two parts. In Part 1 we will look in detail at how exactly phosphonates and phosphinates were formed from the chemical modification of actual meteorite fragments. In Part 2, we explore potential chemical reactions which could have taken place on an early Earth with these two phosphorus species and which could have an impact in how some of key biological molecules, such as prebiotic organic phosphorus polymers, might have emerged.

磷酸盐是地球上所有生命的关键成分。磷酸盐在地球上无处不在，我们从地下挖出它作为钙盐，我们用它刷牙，我们每天在食物和饮料中消耗它。然而，尽管磷酸盐是一种相当常见的化学物质，但我们并不能确定大自然是否选择了磷酸盐作为地球上最早的生命形式。问题的很大一部分在于磷酸盐化学物质极难溶解且化学反应性极低。 1955 年，科学家艾迪生·古利克 (Addison Gulick) 提出，如果早期地球上存在其他形式的磷，磷酸盐问题就可以得到解决。这些化学物质称为膦酸盐和次膦酸盐，是磷酸盐的近亲，但在水中更易溶解且具有化学反应性。问题是磷酸盐和次膦酸盐在今天的地球上是未知的，因为几千年来，地球的化学环境已经发生了如此程度的变化，现在只有磷酸盐是稳定的。然而，我们最近发现，通过富铁陨石与水在光存在下的化学反应，次膦酸盐和膦酸盐很容易被早期地球上的生命起源化学所利用。这一发现使我们能够首次详细探索膦酸盐和次膦酸盐在生命起源问题中的潜力，并有一定程度的信心相信这种化学物质可能在早期地球上就已经存在。该项目分为两部分。在第 1 部分中，我们将详细了解膦酸盐和次膦酸盐是如何通过实际陨石碎片的化学修饰而形成的。在第二部分中，我们探讨了早期地球上这两种磷物质可能发生的潜在化学反应，这些化学反应可能对一些关键生物分子（例如生命起源前有机磷聚合物）的出现产生影响。

项目成果

Hydrothermal modification of the Sikhote-Alin iron meteorite under low pH geothermal environments. A plausibly prebiotic route to activated phosphorus on the early Earth

• DOI: 10.1016/j.gca.2012.12.043
• 发表时间: 2013-05-15
• 期刊: GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA
• 影响因子: 5
• 作者: Bryant, David E.;Greenfield, David;Kee, Terence P.
• 通讯作者: Kee, Terence P.