Issue 30, 2016

Photochemical etiology of promising ancestors of the RNA nucleobases

Abstract

RNA is a product of chemical and biological evolution and the identification of its heterocyclic ancestors is essential for understanding the molecular origins of life. Among a diverse array of selection pressures thought to have shaped the composition of the nucleobases on prebiotic Earth, protection against intense ultraviolet radiation must have been essential. In this contribution, a detailed spectroscopic and photophysical investigation of barbituric acid and 2,4,6-triaminopyrimidine, two promising candidates for the prebiotic ancestors of RNA nucleobases, is presented in aqueous solution. It is shown that although these pyrimidine derivatives absorb ultraviolet radiation strongly, both compounds possess efficient electronic relaxation mechanisms for dissipating most of the absorbed ultraviolet energy to their aqueous environment as heat within hundreds of femtoseconds, thus safeguarding their chemical integrity. In fact, these two heterocyclic compounds rival the photostability observed in the canonical nucleobases in aqueous solution, thus supporting the recent proposal that both barbituric acid and 2,4,6-triaminopyrimidine are promising ancestors of the RNA nucleobases.

Graphical abstract: Photochemical etiology of promising ancestors of the RNA nucleobases

Associated articles

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
29 Janv. 2016
Accepted
17 Febr. 2016
First published
17 Febr. 2016

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2016,18, 20097-20103

Photochemical etiology of promising ancestors of the RNA nucleobases

M. M. Brister, M. Pollum and C. E. Crespo-Hernández, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2016, 18, 20097 DOI: 10.1039/C6CP00639F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements