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Formose Reaction

Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

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Synonyms

Butlerow reaction

Definition

The formose reaction, discovered by Butlerow in 1861, is a complex autocatalytic set of condensation reactions of formaldehyde to yield sugars and other small sugar-like molecules. The reaction is particularly noteworthy in the context of astrobiology and prebiotic chemistry in that it could serve as a potential abiotic source of carbohydrates, in particular ribose, which could be important for the origin of an RNA World.

Overview

The formose reaction is an autocatalytic reaction discovered by Butlerow (1861). It involves the formation of sugars, polyols and hydroxy acids from formaldehyde in a series of carbon-to-carbon condensations, as opposed to carbon-to-oxygen condensations of HCHO to form polyoxymethylene. Formose is a contraction of formaldehyde and the suffix -ose, denoting a sugar. In fact, many biological sugars have empirical formulas of the form (CH2O)n, for example, glucose, (CH2O)6, and ribose, (CH2O)5. The formose reaction may be a...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI), Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1-IE-1, Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 152-8550, Japan

    Henderson James (Jim) Cleaves II

  2. Institute for Advanced Study, 1 Einstein Drive, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA

    Henderson James (Jim) Cleaves II

  3. Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, 2800 Woodley Rd. NW #544, Washington, DC, 20008, USA

    Henderson James (Jim) Cleaves II

  4. Center for Chemical Evolution, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA

    Henderson James (Jim) Cleaves II

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  1. Henderson James (Jim) Cleaves II
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Correspondence to Henderson James (Jim) Cleaves II .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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Cleaves, H.J.(. (2014). Formose Reaction. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_587-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_587-3

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Formose Reaction
    Published:
    01 May 2022

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_587-4

  2. Original

    Formose Reaction
    Published:
    16 April 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_587-3

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