Sur le rôle de l’imidazole et de ses dérivés au cours de l’évolution chimique prébiologique

Abstract

Imidazole and some of its derivatives, known to be acyl and phosphoryl transfer catalysts in model biochemical reactions, are also formed in typical laboratory simulated prebiotic reactions. We have already shown that polyphosphates (cyclic or linear) induce in aqueous solution the condensation of amino acids into peptides under conditions which might have prevailed on the primitive earth. In the case of glycine, the influence of imidazole on this condensation is shown to be pH dependant. At pH 8.0–9.0, range which is of great interest to prebiotic chemistry, the yield of tripeptide is increased almost 10 times by addition of imidazole, whereas at pH 10.4–10.8 its effect is negligible. The possible role of imidazole and some of its derivatives during the course of chemical evolution is discussed.