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Prebiotic synthesis of histidineThe prebiotic formation of histidine (His) has been accomplished experimentally by the reaction of erythrose with formamidine followed by a Strecker synthesis. In the first step of this reaction sequence, the formation of imidazole-4-acetaldehyde took place by the condensation of erythrose and formamidine, two compounds that are known to be formed under prebiotic conditions. In a second step, the imidazole-4-acetaldehyde was converted to His, without isolation of the reaction products by adding HCN and ammonia to the reaction mixture. LC, HPLC, thermospray liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and tandem mass spectrometry were used to identify the product, which was obtained in a yield of 3.5% based on the ratio of His/erythrose. This is a new chemical synthesis of one of the basic amino acids which had not been synthesized prebiotically until now.
Document ID
20040112295
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Shen, C.
(University of Houston Texas 77204-5500, United States)
Yang, L.
Miller, S. L.
Oro, J.
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
September 1, 1990
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of molecular evolution
Volume: 31
Issue: 3
ISSN: 0022-2844
Subject Category
Exobiology
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NGR44005-002
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-20
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
Non-NASA Center
NASA Discipline Exobiology

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