NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
The photochemical origins of life and photoreaction of ferrous ion in the archaean oceansA general argument is made for the photochemical origins of life. A constant flux of free energy is required to maintain the organized state of matter called life. Solar photons are the unique source of the large amounts of energy probably required to initiate this organization and certainly required for the evolution of life to occur. The completion of this argument will require the experimental determination of suitable photochemical reactions. It is shown that biogenetic porphyrins readily photooxidize substrates and emit hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst. These results are consistent with the Granick hypothesis, which relates a biosynthetic pathway to its evolutionary origin. It has been shown that photoexcitation of ferrous ion at neutral pH with near ultraviolet light produces hydrogen with high quantum yield. This same simple system may reduce carbon dioxide to formaldehyde and further products. These reactions offer a solution to the dilemma confronting the Oparin-Urey-Miller model of the chemical origin of life. If carbon dioxide is the main form of carbon on the primitive earth, the ferrous photoreaction may provide the reduced carbon necessary for the formation of amino acids and other biogenic molecules. These results suggest that this progenitor of modern photosynthesis may have contributed to the chemical origins of life.
Document ID
19910034320
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Mauzerall, David C.
(Rockefeller University New York, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1990
Publication Information
Publication: Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere
Volume: 20
Issue: 4-Mar
ISSN: 0169-6149
Subject Category
Life Sciences (General)
Accession Number
91A18943
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-321
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available