Álvaro F. Magalhães and Matthew W. Powner
Chem. Commun., 2022,58, 13519-13522
DOI:
10.1039/D2CC05466C,
Communication
Proline and phosphate promote a near-quantitative aldol reaction between glycolaldehyde phosphate and formaldehyde at neutral pH in water. Our results demonstrate the important role of general acid-base catalysis in water and underscore the essential role that amino acid catalysis may have played in early evolution of life's core metabolic pathways.