Photocatalysis and the Origin of Life: Synthesis of Nucleoside Bases from Formamide on TiO₂(001) Single Surfaces

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 103; no. 5; pp. 1194 - 1198
• Main Authors: Senanayake, S. D., Idriss, H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences 31.01.2006; National Acad Sciences
• Subjects: Adsorption; Atoms; Binding energy; Carbon; Carbon - chemistry; Catalysis; Chemical compounds; Chemistry; Crystallography, X-Ray; Desorption; Electrons; EXCITATION; FORMAMIDE; Formamides; Formamides - chemistry; Light; Mass Spectrometry; Minerals; Models, Chemical; Models, Molecular; Molecular Weight; Molecules; MONOCRYSTALS; national synchrotron light source; Nitrogen - chemistry; NSLS; NUCLEOSIDES; ORIGIN; Origin of Life; OXIDES; PARTICLE ACCELERATORS; PHOTOCATALYSIS; PHOTONS; Physical Sciences; Semiconductors; Single crystals; Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission; Spectrum analysis; Surface Properties; SYNTHESIS; Temperature; Time Factors; Titanium - chemistry; Titanium alloys; Titanium dioxide; Ultraviolet radiation; Ultraviolet Rays

We report the conversion of a large fraction of formamide (NH₂CHO) to high-molecular-weight compounds attributed to nucleoside bases on the surface of a TiO₂ (001) single crystal in ultra-high vacuum conditions. If true, we present previously unreported evidence for making biologically relevant mole...