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Eichberg, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Eichberg, J..

5 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1982

Synthesis of phosphatidylcholine under possible primitive earth conditions

Using a primitive earth evaporating pond model, the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine was accomplished when a reaction mixture of choline chloride and disodium phosphatidate, in the presence of cyanamide and traces of acid, was evaporated and heated at temperatures ranging from 25 to 100 C for 7 hours. Optimum yields of about 15% were obtained at 80 C. Phosphatidylcholine was identified by chromatographic, chemical and enzymatic degradation methods. On enzymatic hydrolysis with phospholipase A2 and phospholipase C, lysophosphatidylcholine and phosphorylcholine were formed, respectively. Alkaline hydrolysis gave glycerophosphorylcholine. The synthesis of phosphatidylcholine as the major compound was accompanied by the formation of lysophosphatidylcholine in smaller amounts. Cyanamide was found to be essential for the formation of phosphatidylcholine, and only traces of HCl, of the order of that required to convert the disodium phosphatidate to free phosphatidic acid were found necessary for the synthesis. This work suggests that phosphatidylcholine, which is an essential component of most biological membranes, could have been synthesized on the primitive earth.

Rao, M.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Cyanamide mediated synthesis under plausible primitive earth conditions. VI - The synthesis of glycerol and glycerophosphates

The formation of glycerol occurs when a solution of DL-glyceraldehyde is heated in the presence of hydrogen sulfide at room temperature. DL-glyceraldehyde and dihydroxyacetone treated with hydrazine, as well as DL-glyceraldehyde incubated with formaldehyde are also partially converted to glycerol. The yields of the above reactions are from approximately 1% to about 3%. The formation of glycerophosphates occurs when glycerol is heated with ammonium dihydrogen phosphate and either urea or cyanamide. The yield of glycerophosphates is about 30%, most of which is sn-glycero-1(3)-phosphate. These findings indicate that glycerol and sn-glycero-3-phosphate, which are moieties of glycerolipids, could have been formed under conditions which may have prevailed on the primitive earth.

Epps, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Prebiotic condensation reactions using cyanamide

Condensation reactions in cyanamide, 4-amino-5-imidazole-carboxamide and cyanamide, imidazole systems under dehydrating conditions at moderate temperatures (60 to 100 deg C) were investigated. The cyanamide, imidazole system was used for synthesis of palmitoylglycerols from ammonium palmitate and glycerol. With the addition of deoxythymidine to the former system, P1, P2-dideoxythymidine 5 prime-phosphate was obtained; the same cyanamide, 4-amino-5-imidazole-carboxamide system was used to synthesize deoxythymidine oligonucleotides using deoxythymidine 5 prime-phosphate and deoxythymidine 5 prime-triphosphate, and peptides using glycine, phenylalanine or isoleucine with adenosine 5 prime-triphosphate. The pH requirements for these reactions make their prebiotic significance questionable; however, it is conceivable that they could occur in stable pockets of low interlayer acidity in a clay such as montmorillonite.

Sherwood, E.↗