Abstract H2O and CO2 are considered as fundamental precursors for the prebiotic formation of biomolecules. Their conversion to biomolecules under early Earth conditions is critical for understanding origin of life. However, direct formation from these simple compounds remains unverified, leaving the mechanistic role of H2O unresolved. Herein, we demonstrate ribose synthesis from H2O and CO2 under prebiotic conditions via hydrodynamic cavitation, a process naturally occurring in ancient oceans. Ca2+-mediated hydrodynamic cavitation in a Venturi reactor produced ribose as the major sugar product. Ribose was predicted to be formed from formaldehyde and CH2OH· radicals generated via a sequential reaction involving OH·, H· and C1· radicals derived from H2O and CO2 under high-temperature/pressure induced by hydrodynamic cavitation, followed by successive CH2OH· radical substitutions. These findings indicate that early Earth’s aqueous fluids could enable abiotic biomolecule formation, suggesting flowing H2O acted as both driver and reactant in life’s chemical origin.
Fang et al. (Sat,) studied this question.