Abstract
THE insolubility of calcium phosphate in water is a significant stumbling block in the chemistry required for the origin of life1. The discovery of alkyl phosphonic acids in the Murchison meteorite2 suggests the possibility of delivery of these water-soluble, phosphorus-containing molecules by meteorites or comets to the early Earth. This could have provided a supply of organic phosphorus for the earliest stages of chemical evolution; although probably not components of early genetic systems, phosphonic acids may have been precursors to the first nucleic acids3. Here we report the synthesis of several phosphonic acids, including the most abundant found in the Murchison meteorite, by ultraviolet irradiation of orthophosphorous acid in the presence of formaldehyde, primary alcohols, or acetone. We argue that similar reactions might explain the presence of phosphonic acids in Murchison, and could also have occurred on the prebiotic Earth.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Gulick, A. Am. Scient. 43, 479–489 (1955).
Cooper, G. W., Onwo, W. M. & Cronin, J. R. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 56, 4109–4115 (1992).
Joyce, G. F. Nature 338, 217–224 (1989).
Miller, S. L. & Urey, H. C. Science 130, 245–251 (1959).
Fegley, B. & Lewis, J. S. Icarus 41, 439–455 (1980).
Park, H.-R. & Getoff, N. J. Photochem. Photobiol. 43, 155–163 (1988).
Freedman, L. D. & Doak, G. O. Chem. Rev. 57, 479–573 (1957).
Schwartz, A. W. & van der Veen, M. Inorg. nucl. Chem. Lett. 9, 39–41 (1973).
Matsuura, N., Yoshimura, M., Takizawa, M. & Sasaki, Y. Bull. chem. Soc. Japan 44, 1027–1030 (1971).
Seifert, K.-G. & Bargon, J. Angew, Chem. int. Edn engl. 12, 763–764 (1973).
Schwartz, A. W. & de Graaf, R. M. Tetrahedron Lett. 34, 2201–2202 (1993).
Calvert, J. C. & Pitts, J. N. 393 Photochemistry (Wiley, New York, 1966).
Engel, R. Chem. Rev. 77, 349–367 (1977).
Bunch, T. E. & Chang, S. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 44, 1543–1577 (1980).
Chen, P. S., Toribara, T. Y. & Warner, H. Analyt. Chem. 28, 1756–1758 (1956).
Van der Linde, H. J. & v. Sonntag, C. Photochem. Photobiol. 13, 147–155 (1971).
Walker, J. F. Formaldehyde (Krieger, Huntington, NY, 1964).
Schwartz, A. W. & de Graaf, R. M. J. molec Evol. 36, 101–106 (1993).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
de Graaf, R., Visscher, J. & Schwartz, A. A plausibly prebiotic synthesis of phosphonic acids. Nature 378, 474–477 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/378474a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/378474a0
This article is cited by
-
Plausible Emergence and Self Assembly of a Primitive Phospholipid from Reduced Phosphorus on the Primordial Earth
Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres (2021)
-
Supply of phosphate to early Earth by photogeochemistry after meteoritic weathering
Nature Geoscience (2020)
-
An interstellar synthesis of phosphorus oxoacids
Nature Communications (2018)
-
Phosphorus: a Case for Mineral-Organic Reactions in Prebiotic Chemistry
Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres (2015)
-
Life Origination Hydrate Theory (LOH-Theory) and the Explanation of the Biological Diversification
Journal of Molecular Evolution (2014)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
