Abstract
Attention is called to the photodynamic and thermodynamic properties of Periodic Group IIb elements, most notably Hg, as they relate to ultra-violet sensitization in organic chemical reactions. The energy levels of 61 P 1 and 63 P 1 resonance states and the high vapor pressure (>10−3 mm) of the metal at temperatures as low as 293 K bring Hg with the range of bond dissociation energies in most organic molecules and many inorganics.
These capabilities considered together with recent evidence for Hg emission as a regular part of volcanic and geothermal processes provide the basis for our proposal that Hg-sensitized ultraviolet photo-reactions may have played a significant part in abiogenetic organic synthesis on the primative earth.
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Senior NATO fellow, Nordic Institute of Volcanology, University of Iceland, 1975.
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Siegel, S.M., Siegel, B.Z. Vulcanism, mercury-sensitized photo-reactions and abiogenetic synthesis: A theoretical treatment. Origins Life Evol Biosphere 7, 175–181 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00926934
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00926934