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Mechanism of Synthesis of Adenine from Hydrogen Cyanide under Possible Primitive Earth Conditions

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Abstract

IT has recently been shown that adenine and the purine precursors 4-aminoimidazole-5-carboxamidine and formamidine are formed spontaneously from hydrogen cyanide in water–ammonia systems under conditions assumed to have existed on the primitive Earth1.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemistry Department, University of Houston, Houston, 4, Texas

    J. ORÓ

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  1. J. ORÓ
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ORÓ, J. Mechanism of Synthesis of Adenine from Hydrogen Cyanide under Possible Primitive Earth Conditions. Nature 191, 1193–1194 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/1911193a0

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