ISSN:
1432-1432
Keywords:
Sugar synthesis
;
Glyceraldehyde
;
Iron(III) hydroxide oxide
;
Catalysis
;
Aldol condensation
;
Prebiotic
;
Molecular evolution
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
Summary Iron(III) hydroxide oxide [Fe(OH)O] efficiently catalyzed the condensation of 25 MM dl-glyceraldehyde to ketohexoses at 25°C (pH 5–6). At 16 days the yields were sorbose (15.2%), fructose (12.9%), psicose (6.1%), tagatose (5.6%), and dendroketose (2.5%) with 19.6% of triose unreacted. Analysis at 96 days showed no decomposition of hexoses. Under these conditions Fe(OH)O also catalyzed the isomerization and rearrangement of glyceraldehyde to dihydroxyacetone and lactic acid, respectively. In these reactions, about 10% of the glyceraldehyde was oxidized to glyceric acid with concurrent reduction of the iron(III) to iron(II). The partial reduction of Fe(OH)O did not noticeably reduce its ability to catalyze hexose synthesis. The relationship of these results to prebiotic sugar synthesis is discussed.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00160255
