[Prebiotic phosphate: a problem insoluble in water ? ]

Area of Science:

• Prebiotic chemistry
• Origin of life studies
• Geochemistry

Background:

• Phosphate readily precipitates with calcium in water, posing a challenge for prebiotic phosphorus availability.
• Previous work suggested hydrophobic layers on early Earth's seas could concentrate organic molecules.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a mechanism for phosphorus availability and reaction in prebiotic environments.
• To investigate the role of hydrophobic media in concentrating and polymerizing biomolecules.

Main Methods:

• Hypothesizing phosphorus compound accumulation in hydrophobic media, protected from calcium precipitation and hydrolysis.
• Proposing reactions between volcanic phosphorus compounds (e.g., phosphite) and hydrophobic organic molecules (amino acids, pyrimidine bases).

Main Results:

• Phosphorus compounds could accumulate in hydrophobic layers due to the absence of calcium ions.
• Phosphite may react with amino acids to form phosphoamino acids.
• Phosphoamino acids could interact with pyrimidine bases to form peptides and oligonucleotide-like polymers.

Conclusions:

• Hydrophobic environments offer a plausible solution to the prebiotic phosphorus availability problem.
• These environments could facilitate the formation of key biomolecules, including phosphoamino acids, peptides, and oligonucleotides.
• The proposed mechanism aligns with experimental evidence of phosphoamino acid and nucleotide formation in anhydrous organic media.