Importance of Biased Synthesis in Chemical Evolution Studies

Abstract

The emergence of life needed a physical and chemical preamble. There is a large variety of experimental data to support the hypothesis for the abiotic formation of organic compounds. Although much knowledge has been obtained, many questions remain. One important factor in chemical evolution is related to the importance of random chemical synthesis versus more selective pathways forming compounds of biological relevance. Biased synthesis mechanisms would induce a much smaller space sequence in comparison to a space sequence derived from a purely random synthesis. Such condition in turn would render more feasible the emergence of a chemical system compatible with life.

In this paper we exemplify a biased synthesis that could have been relevant in primitive scenarios. We perform experiments simulating an organic compound adsorbed in soil and exposed to an energy source. Carboxylic acid is adsorbed in a clay mineral and is exposed to radiation. The chemical reaction induced in this system follows a preferential pathway of decomposition over others; both solid surfaces and radiation play an important role.