Artificial Seawater Models Affect Sorption of Adenine and Related Molecules Sorption onto Montmorillonite: Implications for Early Mars and Earth Oceans.

ABSTRACT: The adsorption of biomolecules onto mineral surfaces plays a crucial role in the context of prebiotic chemistry, as originally proposed by John Desmond Bernal. According to Bernal's hypothesis, clay minerals could have facilitated the concentration and stabilization of organic molecules, creating favorable microenvironments for prebiotic reactions and polymerization processes. In this study, we evaluate the adsorption behavior of adenine, adenosine, and adenosine monophosphate (AMP) onto montmorillonite under different artificial seawater conditions, simulating early Earth and early Mars aqueous environments. The adsorption efficiency varied depending on the ionic composition of the solution, with AMP exhibiting the highest adsorption, likely due to its phosphate group interacting with div

SUBMITTER: Ferreira GW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12242628 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature