Differential adsorption of nucleic acid bases: Relevance to the origin of life
Year: 2001
Type: article
Abstract: The adsorption of organic molecules onto the surfaces of inorganic solids has long been considered a process relevant to the origin of life. We have determined the equilibrium adsorption isotherms for the nucleic acid purine and pyrimidine bases dissolved in water on the surface of crystalline graphite. The markedly different adsorption behavior of the bases describes an elutropic series: guanine > adenine > hypoxanthine > thymine > cytosine > uracil. We propose that such differential properties were relevant to the prebiotic chemistry of the bases and may have influenced the composition of the primordial genetic architecture.
Institutions: Stockholm University, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1964637595