Mimicking the prebiotic acidic hydrothermal environment: One‐pot prebiotic hydrothermal synthesis of glucose phosphates

Abstract

AbstractPrebiotic acidic hydrothermal conditions were mimicked, and biological phosphate esters such as glucose‐1‐phosphate, glucose‐6‐phosphate, and glucose‐di‐phosphate were synthesized under hydrothermal conditions, in the presence of a mixture of montmorillonite and kaolinite. Phosphorus was incorporated into the biological world under hydrothermal conditions, leading to the formation of phosphate esters. The synthesis was successfully carried out within a temperature range of 100–160°C. Both isomers of glucose phosphate were obtained, with some detectable amount of glucose‐di‐phosphate. Selected mixture of montmorillonite and kaolinite was found to be essential for the reaction. No products were detected without this catalyst mixture. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 22:186–191, 2011; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. DOI 10.1002/hc.20675