Resolving the enigma of prebiotic COP bond formation: Prebiotic hydrothermal synthesis of important biological phosphate esters

Important biological phosphate esters such as sn-glycerol-3-phosphate, glycerol-2-phosphate, and phosphoethanolamine were synthesized under hydrothermal conditions. Phosphorus was incorporated into the biomolecules, leading to the formation of COP type compounds hydrothermally. Only perlite-catalyzed reaction at 180°C could result in the formation of sn-glycerol-3-phosphate, whereas glycerol-2-phosphate could be easily synthesized at 100°C with or without minerals and phosphoethanolamine was obtained within a temperature range of 100 to 120°C. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 21:161–167, 2010; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/hc.20591