Photostability of oxazoline RNA-precursors in UV-rich prebiotic environments†
Mikołaj J.
Janicki, 
a
Samuel J.
Roberts,
b
Jiří
Šponer,
c
Matthew W.
Powner,
*b
Robert W.
Góra
*a
and
Rafał
Szabla
*cd
a
Samuel J.
Roberts,
b
Jiří
Šponer,
c
Matthew W.
Powner,
*b
Robert W.
Góra
*a
and
Rafał
Szabla
*cd
Abstract
Pentose aminooxazolines and oxazolidinone thiones are considered as the key precursors which could have enabled the formation of RNA nucleotides under the conditions of early Earth. UV-irradiation experiments and quantum-chemical calculations demonstrate that these compounds are remarkably photostable and could accumulate over long periods of time in UV-rich prebiotic environments to undergo stereoisomeric purification.
- This article is part of the themed collection: Celebrating our 2019 Prize and Award winners
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