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Evolution, Origin of Life, Concepts and Methods pp 31–42Cite as

Formation of Nucleosides and Nucleotides in Chemical Evolution

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Abstract

Nucleosides and nucleotides are important biomolecules. Following Gilbert’s (Nature 319:618, 1986) proposal of an “RNA world,” various processes for the formation of nucleosides (from nucleobases and ribose) and the polymerization of nucleotides have been suggested. Problems associated with the formation of RNA have also been pointed out. The constituents of RNA are nucleobases, ribose, and phosphate. Ribose has five conformational isomers or conformers, each of which can react with a nucleobase. In life, however, only the β-furanose form of ribose is used. Curiously, when a nucleobase reacts with ribose in an aqueous solution, only a small amount of nucleoside with a β-ribofuranose component is detectable in the total products. Thus, the RNA world hypothesis has reached a deadlock. Here, we summarize the important points in the synthesis of nucleobases and ribose. We also describe the selective formation of nucleosides and touch on the one-pot synthesis of nucleotides.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute for Materials Science, Namiki, Tsukuba, Japan

    Hideo Hashizume & Kazuko Fujii

  2. Manaaki Whenua–Landcare Research, Palmerston North, New Zealand

    Benny K. G. Theng

  3. Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Den Burg, The Netherlands

    Sjerry van der Gaast

Authors
  1. Hideo Hashizume
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  2. Benny K. G. Theng
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  3. Sjerry van der Gaast
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  4. Kazuko Fujii
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Correspondence to Hideo Hashizume .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS and IHU, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France

    Pierre Pontarotti

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Hashizume, H., Theng, B.K.G., van der Gaast, S., Fujii, K. (2019). Formation of Nucleosides and Nucleotides in Chemical Evolution. In: Pontarotti, P. (eds) Evolution, Origin of Life, Concepts and Methods. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30363-1_2

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