Uracil-catalyzed synthesis of acetyl phosphate: a photochemical driver for protometabolism

Progress toward a protometabolism (the earliest energy storage networks) has been severely hindered by a shortage of driver reactions, which could have harnessed solar photons or coupled electron sources/sinks on the primordial Earth. Here, it is reported for the first time that thioacetate can be converted into a known metabolite, acetyl phosphate, by ultraviolet light and in aqueous solution at neutral pH. Of more compelling importance, the synthesis is catalyzed by uracil, which suggests that a genetic component may have also facilitated the emergence of metabolic pathways. The chemistry of acetyl phosphate has been extensively studied, and it is known to be a precursor of phosphate esters, pyrophosphate and possibly longer inorganic chains. Moreover, its bifunctional reactivity (as either an acetyl or phosphoryl donor) would have been integral for the first metabolic cycles.