Chemical structure of a prebiotic analog of adenosine (original) (raw)

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The study of prebiotic chemistry is crucial for understanding the origins of life and the potential pathways for the formation of RNA and its analogs. This work successfully characterizes the chemical structure of condensation products formed from ribose and adenine, confirming the presence of N6-ribosyl-adenine isomers, which may have implications for the evolution of early replicating molecules.

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Abstract

Upon heating a dry mixture of ribose and adenine, condensation products are formed. They were identified as isomers of N6-ribosyl-adenine (Fuller, Sanchez and Orgel, 1972). Due to the current interest in nucleotide analogs as potential constituents of primitive RNA catalysts, the products were further characterized by mass spectroscopy and proton NMR. Our results fully substantiate the previous proposals.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. Institut Jacques Monod du CNRS, Tour 43, 2 Place Jussieu, 75251, Paris Cedex 05, France
   Marie-Christine Maurel
2. Laboratoire de Chimie Organique Structurale, CNRS UA.455, 4 Place Jussieu, 75230, Paris Cedex 05, France
   Odile Convert

Authors

1. Marie-Christine Maurel
2. Odile Convert

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Maurel, MC., Convert, O. Chemical structure of a prebiotic analog of adenosine.Origins Life Evol Biosphere 20, 43–48 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01808058

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• Received: 06 October 1989
• Issue date: January 1990
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01808058

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