Abstract
Three possible routes for the synthesis of macromolecules--geochemical, biochemical, astrochemical--are shown to be directed by water, hydrogen cyanide and silicates, respectively.
The origin of volatiles and refractories.
The hydride hypothesis for the origin of molecules assumes that hydrides are readily formed within our galaxy because of the dominating presence of hydrogen compared with all other bonding elements. One of these hydrides, water, has a unique role because it reacts readily with metallic hydrides to give refractory materials such as silicates, or with ionic hydrides to yield salts such as sodium hydroxide, but does not react with covalent hydrides such as the volatile compounds dihydrogen, methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and phosphine. The existence of this watershed producing reduced compounds together with those that are oxidized has profound implications for the origin of stars, planets, and life.
The origin of proteins and nucleic acids.
The cyanide model for the origin of proteins in the reducing environment of primitive Earth maintains that polyamidines formed by base-catalyzed polymerization of hydrogen cyanide in the atmosphere are readily converted by water in the oceans to polypeptides. In the absence of water--on land--these polyamidines could have been the original condensing agents directing the synthesis of nucleosides and nucleotides from available sugars, phosphates, and nitrogen bases. Most significant would have been the parallel synthesis of polypeptides and polynucleotides arising from the dehydrating action of polyamidines on nucleotides. On our dynamic planet this polypeptide-polynucleotide symbiosis mediated by polyamidines may have set the pattern for the evolution of protein-nucleic acid systems controlled by enzymes, the mode characteristic of life today.
The origin of stars and planets.
According to the planetary connection, disintegration of planets and other satellites -- moons, asteroids, comets -- during ‘the red giant phase of stellar evolution yields circumstellar dust and molecules that become interstellar following ejection by planetary nebula activity, nova cataclysms or supernova catastrophes. Further production of dust and molecules - circumstellar, interstellar and protostellar - is promoted by the dust acting as aggregating agent, coordinating matrix and radiation shield. As well as being possible abodes of life, planets play an essential role in bringing about stellar evolution in spiral galaxies.
Taken together, these preferred pathways suggest that in spiral galaxies planets are natural companions of stars, and that on Earth-like planets life is a universal phenomenon.
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Matthews, C.N. (1988). Cosmic Metabolism: The Origin of Macromolecules. In: Marx, G. (eds) Bioastronomy — The Next Steps. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 144. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2959-3_23
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