R. Sanchez, J. Ferris, L. Orgel
Nov 28, 1968
Citations
4
Influential Citations
99
Citations
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Journal
Journal of molecular biology
Abstract
Abstract The synthesis of 4-aminoimidazole-5-carbonitrile and its derivatives from HCN has been discussed in a preceding paper. It is shown here that these imidazoles are readily cyclized to mono- and di-substituted purines. Since the photochemical synthesis of 4-aminoimidazole-5-carbonitrile from HCN is considered to be a particularly plausible prebiotic pathway, the conversion of 4-aminoimidazole-5-carbonitrile and of its hydrolysis product 4-aminoimidazole-5-carboxamide to adenine and guanine are examined in some detail