The only text to provide a chemical approach to prebiotic chemistry.

Albert received his BS in Chemistry from Indiana University in 2008, having done research under the tutelage of Professor Amar Flood in synthetic and supramolecular chemistry. He received his PhD from Northwestern University in Organic Chemistry in 2013 under the mentorship of Professor Sir Fraser Stoddart (Nobel Prize 2016) investigating the molecular self-assembly and template-directed syntheses of artificial molecular switches and machines. Albert then moved to Boston to carry out research in origins of life chemistry as a postdoctoral scholar with Professor Jack Szostak (Nobel Prize 2009) at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital. His research here focused on nonenzymatic RNA replication and prebiotic synthesis.
Henderson ("Jim") Cleaves is the current president of the International Society for the Study of the Origins of Life. He received his Ph.D in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of California San Diego under the tutelage of pioneering prebiotic chemist Professor Stanley L. Miller. He is a research scientist at the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, a visiting scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Earth and Planets Laboratory, and an adjunct professor at the Earth-Life Science Institute at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. His current research involves understanding the evolution of complex combinatorial organic reaction networks to help understand the origins of life and the detection of biosignatures for Solar System exploration missions.

• xix: Preface


• 1: Introductions to Basic Origins of Life Questions


• 1.1: What Is Life?


• 1.2: The RNA World Hypothesis


• 1.3: Prebiotic Chemistry and Chemical Evolution


• 1.4: Summary


• 1.5: Exercises


• 1.6: Suggested Reading


• 2: Origin of Earth, Its Atmosphere, and Oceans: The First Molecules


• 2.1: An Introduction to Geology


• 2.2: Formation of Earth and its Geological History


• 2.3: Earth's First Atmospheres: From Strongly to Weakly Reducing Mixtures


• 2.4: The First Organic Molecules: Exogenous Delivery, Endogenous Production, and Impact Synthesis


• 2.5: Oceans and Submarine Hydrothermal Vents


• 2.6: Land and Hydrothermal Fields


• 2.7: Summary


• 2.8: Exercises


• 2.9: Suggested Reading


• 3: An Overview of Biochemistry


• 3.1: A Brief History of Life on Earth


• 3.2: The Essential Features of Prokaryotes


• 3.3: DNA, RNA, and Proteins


• 3.4: Summary


• 3.5: Exercises


• 3.6: Suggested Reading


• 4: An Overview of Metabolism and Reaction Networks


• 4.1: Introduction to Metabolism


• 4.2: The Chemoton Model and the Organization of Cellular Metabolism


• 4.3: The Central Metabolic Pathways in Prokaryotes


• 4.4: Other Important Biosynthetic Pathways


• 4.5: Summary


• 4.6: Exercises


• 4.7: Suggested Reading


• 5: Sugars, Nucleobases and RNA: Prebiotic Ribonucleotide Synthesis


• 5.1: Sugar Nomenclature, Structure, and Stereochemistry


• 5.2: RNA Nomenclature and Structure


• 5.3: Prebiotic Sugar Synthesis


• 5.4: Nucleobase Synthesis


• 5.5: Ribonucleoside/tide Synthesis


• 5.6: Summary


• 5.7: Exercises


• 5.8: Suggested Reading


• 6: Aqueous Phase Amino Acid Chemistry


• 6.1: Amino Acid Structure and Nomenclature


• 6.2: Prebiotic Amino Acid Synthesis


• 6.3: Miller-Urey-type Experiments


• 6.4: Amino Acids in Meteorites


• 6.5: Summary


• 6.6: Exercises


• 6.7: Suggested Reading


• 7: Nonenzymatic Polymerization of Ribonucleic Acids and Peptides


• 7.1: Nonenzymatic Polymerization Is Thought to be a Prerequisite for Life's Emergence


• 7.2: Polymerization with Condensing Agents


• 7.3: Nonenzymatic Template-Directed Synthesis


• 7.4: Summary


• 7.5: Exercises


• 7.6: Suggested Reading


• 8: Protocells: Compartmentalization, Replication and Integrated Molecular Function


• 8.1: Protocells and the Importance of Compartments


• 8.2: Different Types of Protocell Compartments


• 8.3: The Chemistry of Lipid Membrane Vesicles


• 8.4: Prebiotic Fatty Acid and Phospholipid Synthesis


• 8.5: Nonenzymatic Template-Directed RNA Synthesis within Vesicles


• 8.6: An Introduction to Synthetic Biology


• 8.7: Summary


• 8.8: Exercises


• 8.9: Suggested Reading