Novel prebiotic models based on formamide and non terrestrial minerals

The synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocycles from formamide under homogeneous conditions has been reported for the first time by Bredereck et al. [1] Yamada later demonstrated the ability to synthesize purine and traces of adenine in the presence of HCN. [2] Formamide has been detected in the interstellar medium, in the long period comet Hale-Bopp and, tentatively, in the solid phase on grains around the young stellar object W33A. [3] The prebiotic chemistry of formamide in the presence of minerals has been recently investigated, the selectivity of the transformation being correlated to chemical properties and elemental composition of the catalyst. [4,5,6]. Formamide affords in a single and simple physical-chemical frame nucleic bases, acyclonucleosides, nucleotides, biogenic carboxylic acids, sugars, amino sugars, aminoacids and condensing agents, providing the main components for the onset of both (pre)genetic and (pre)metabolic processes [7]. In this communication, the results on the role played by non-terrestrial minerals on prebiotic chemistry of formamide will be described, considering the case of analogues of cosmic dust, of meteorites and simple metal oxides widespread in the universe.