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The Dissipative Photochemical Origin of Life: UVC Abiogenisis of the Purines
Version 1
: Received: 20 June 2022 / Approved: 21 June 2022 / Online: 21 June 2022 (05:14:12 CEST)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Hernández, C.; Michaelian, K. Dissipative Photochemical Abiogenesis of the Purines. Entropy 2022, 24, 1027. Hernández, C.; Michaelian, K. Dissipative Photochemical Abiogenesis of the Purines. Entropy 2022, 24, 1027.
DOI: 10.3390/e24081027
Abstract
We have suggested that the abiogenisis of life around the beginning of the Archean may have been an example of microscopic dissipative structuring of UVC pigments (the fundamental molecules of life) under the prevailing surface UV solar spectrum. In a previous article in this series, we have describe the non-equilibrium thermodynamics and the photochemical mechanisms which may have been involved in the dissipative structuring of the purines adenine and hypoxanthine from the common precursor molecules of HCN and water under UVC light. In this article we extend our analysis to include the production of the other two important purines, guanine and xanthine, from these same precursors. The photochemical reactions are presumed to occur within a fatty acid vesicle floating on a hot ocean surface exposed to the prevailing UV light. Reaction-diffusion equations are resolved under different environmental conditions. Significant amounts of adenine (∼10−5 M) and guanine (∼10−6 M) are obtained within only a few months at 80 °C under plausible initial concentrations of HCN and cyanogen (a photochemical product of HCN).
Keywords
origin of life; disspative structuring; non-equilibrium thermodynamics; prebiotic chemistry; abiogenisis; adenine; guanine; hypoxanthine; xanthine; purines
Subject
LIFE SCIENCES, Biochemistry
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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