Anion–π catalysis on carbon allotropes

• M. Ángeles Gutiérrez López,
• Mei-Ling Tan,
• Giacomo Renno,
• Augustina Jozeliūnaitė,
• J. Jonathan Nué-Martinez,
• Javier Lopez-Andarias,
• Naomi Sakai and
• Stefan Matile

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1881–1894, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.140

• graphite might be relevant with regard to early steps in the origin of life [124][125]. Conclusion Anion–π catalysis on carbon allotropes originates from the observation that access to strong anion–π interactions by increasing the intrinsic π acidity of aromatic surfaces is not realistic. Any permanent

A recursive microfluidic platform to explore the emergence of chemical evolution

• David Doran,
• Marc Rodriguez-Garcia,
• Rebecca Turk-MacLeod,
• Geoffrey J. T. Cooper and
• Leroy Cronin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1702–1709, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.164

• David Doran Marc Rodriguez-Garcia Rebecca Turk-MacLeod Geoffrey J. T. Cooper Leroy Cronin WestCHEM, School of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, University Avenue, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK 10.3762/bjoc.13.164 Abstract We propose that a chemically agnostic approach to explore the origin of life, using

• the origin of life under very constrained conditions [6]. Many heated debates in the field of prebiotic chemistry have raged over which precise historical environment(s) gave rise to the first lifeforms. However, it is unlikely that this question can ever be answered with reasonable certainty [7

• ]. Therefore, the puzzle most ripe for scientific inquiry is not how did life first arise, but what kind of processes can facilitate the origin of life? Identification of processes that produce complex, autocatalytic chemical networks [8] from simple inputs via gradual, step-wise complexification could go some

Chemical systems, chemical contiguity and the emergence of life

• Terrence P. Kee and
• Pierre-Alain Monnard

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1551–1563, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.155

• point of view, syntheses of catalytic and information biopolymers seemed to be central to the origin of life because of ubiquitous presence in every aspect of the cellular metabolism, hence their involvement in early stages of life emergence seemed to be necessary. In particular, the synthesis of RNA

• concerning the “Origin of Life”. Indeed, the study of complex molecular aggregates, which is now called “system chemistry” [103], seems to be consistent with the emergence of cellular complexity. Moreover, it has the potential to inherently satisfy the concept of evolutionary continuity. Obviously, an

Framing major prebiotic transitions as stages of protocell development: three challenges for origins-of-life research

• Ben Shirt-Ediss,
• Sara Murillo-Sánchez and
• Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1388–1395, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.135

• success of molecular biology led a whole generation of origin-of-life researchers to believe that the initial steps towards life could be performed by molecules of a single kind (not embedded in a wider chemical organisation). Then, for years, a strong debate was established in the field about, precisely

• coupling chemistry with the constrained spatial diffusion of the molecules involved [10][11]. Therefore, given the cellular nature of all life known on our planet, and given the importance of compartmentalized chemistries for understanding many biological phenomena, it may be productive to try origin-of

• -life simplifications that do not completely erase this aspect at the beginning. The combination of diverse chemical reactions with self-organization and self-assembly processes in heterogeneous, multi-phase conditions could actually be crucial at those first stages: this is the main assumption that

Towards open-ended evolution in self-replicating molecular systems

• Herman Duim and
• Sijbren Otto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1189–1203, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.118

• discuss systems of self-replicating molecules in the context of the origin of life and the synthesis of de novo life. One of the important aspects of life is the ability to reproduce and evolve continuously. In this review we consider some of the prerequisites for obtaining unbounded evolution of self

• understanding of how life could have emerged from molecular building blocks and what is needed to create a minimal form of life in the laboratory. Keywords: autocatalysis; open-ended evolution; origin of life; self-replication; synthetic life; Introduction Mankind has always pondered upon its own existence

• and has sought to understand the origin of life. This led us to trace back our roots, from the great apes to a last universal common ancestor, a simple cellular lifeform from which all other present-day organisms have descended. Ultimately this leads us to one of the great questions in science; how

From chemical metabolism to life: the origin of the genetic coding process

• Antoine Danchin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1119–1135, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.111

• set of 48 chromosomes (their number in apes) to 46 (their number in man) in a sexed species. Starting with accidental fusion of two chromosomes, a ratchet-like continuum of changes must have distanced us from our ape ancestors. In the same way, it is implausible that there was only one origin of life

• its instructions as they appear –in fact, if we can make a DNA synthesizer– then I think we can start building live tissue”. Today, it is not difficult to find statements of this kind in connection with the study of the genome of living organisms, and, naturally in scenarios of the origin of life

• water by an entropy increase, if a selection process retains the macromolecules in a specific compartment. Surface metabolism at the origin of life is perhaps the simplest way to harness this ubiquitous property of thermodynamics. Samuel Granick, very early on, remarked the important role of transition

Lipids: fatty acids and derivatives, polyketides and isoprenoids

• Jeroen S. Dickschat

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 793–794, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.78

• was likely a crucial process for the origin of life – and certainly still is for all existing living systems that necessarily contain lipid membranes with their interesting and finely balanced biophysical properties. In prokaryotes, these membranes define the outer surface of individual cells, while

How and why kinetics, thermodynamics, and chemistry induce the logic of biological evolution

• Addy Pross and
• Robert Pascal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 665–674, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.66

• origin of life constitutes a well-established field of research in chemical science [1] even though identifying the actual pathway by which life emerged on the early Earth will likely forever remain out of reach. The corresponding historical events left no record owing to the instability of the chemical

• hypothesis failed to eliminate the fundamental dilemma, as it led to conflicting so-called genetic and metabolic approaches to the origin of life [15]. Actually, as early as 1922, Lotka’s pioneering work, through two consecutive articles published in the same issue of PNAS and entitled “Contribution to the

• metabolic and genetic features of life to be. Any physicochemical description of the origin of life that seeks to identify the physical principles responsible for life’s emergence should therefore take both considerations into account. Indeed, we believe it is through such a dual approach that a theoretical

Conjecture and hypothesis: The importance of reality checks

• David Deamer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 620–624, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.60

• alternative hypotheses as a way to advance our understanding of how life can begin on the Earth and other habitable planets. As an example of how this approach can be used, two conditions have been proposed for sites conducive to the origin of life: hydrothermal vents in salty seawater, and fresh water

• hydrothermal fields associated with volcanic landmasses. These are considered as alternative hypotheses and the accumulating weight of evidence for each site is described and analyzed. Keywords: hydrothermal fields; hydrothermal vents; origin of life; polymerization by condensation; protocells; Introduction

• thousands of scientists investigating health related research or chemistry and physics having applications in industry. Another reason is that the origin of life is best understood in interdisciplinary terms involving knowledge of astronomy, planetary science, biophysics, chemistry and biochemistry

Adsorption of RNA on mineral surfaces and mineral precipitates

• Elisa Biondi,
• Yoshihiro Furukawa,
• Jun Kawai and
• Steven A. Benner

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 393–404, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.42

• since Bernal broadly conjectured on possible roles of rocks and minerals in the assembly of complex organic species relevant to the origin of life [1]. This theme has now been revisited multiple times [2][3]. Rocks and minerals have been proposed to have had multiple roles that might have been

• of life? Two approaches are possible. On one hand, we might build a collection of natural minerals, and then run experiments on them with biopolymers having prebiotic interest, such as RNA. Unfortunately, natural minerals vary in chemical composition from specimen to specimen, and certainly from

• pure mineral, the catalysis of interest can occur in defects in its crystalline surface. All of these problems are difficult to manage in a controlled laboratory environment. How are we to explore this new complexity as we accommodate those who "plead" for a role for mineralogy in models for the origin

Nucleic acids through condensation of nucleosides and phosphorous acid in the presence of sulfur

• Tuomas Lönnberg

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 670–673, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.67

• crucial step in the origin of life was the prebiotic formation of information carrying polymers. For the polymers playing this role in contemporary biochemistry, i.e., DNA and RNA, such a process appears difficult owing to the low reactivity and solubility of phosphate. Indeed, all of the enzyme-free