Fundamental Role of N–O Bond-Containing Compounds in Prebiotic Synthesis

Abstract

The emergence of biomolecules on the primordial Earth represents a pivotal scientific question for understanding the origin of life. Recent studies show that compounds containing nitrogen–oxygen bonds could serve as important feedstocks in prebiotic synthesis and intermediates in primitive metabolic pathways. Simple N–O-compounds have been identified in the interstellar medium and were likely formed from molecular nitrogen in the early Earth’s atmosphere in the course of high-energy events. N–O-compounds are reactive species with rich chemistry enabling abiotic nitrogen fixation processes. Moreover, various inorganic and organic N–O-compounds are produced and used by modern organisms suggesting these species could play a crucial role at certain stages in the emergence and evolution of life. In this perspective, the potential role of N–O bond-containing compounds as fundamental building blocks and intermediates in prebiotic synthesis is summarized and discussed in a broad context (from simple nitrogen oxides to complicated organic N–O bearing molecules). In the first section, experimental and theoretical data on the detection, formation, and processing of simple N–O-compounds in space is considered. The second section focuses on the abiotic synthesis of N–O-compounds via chemical and photochemical reactions in the primordial atmosphere and ocean. The last two sections deal with the state-of-the-art laboratory-designed chemical reaction networks producing amino acids, peptides, and nucleosides from N–O compounds under prebiotically plausible conditions.