{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]],"date-time":"2026-10-08T14:49:10Z","timestamp":1791470950347,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"24","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,8,7]],"date-time":"2021-08-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1628294400000},"content-version":"am","delay-in-days":313,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#am"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,28]],"date-time":"2020-09-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1601251200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000001","name":"National Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000001","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["ChemBioChem"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2020,12,11]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Urea appears to be a key intermediate of important prebiotic synthetic pathways. Concentrated pools of urea likely existed on the surface of the early Earth, as urea is synthesized in significant quantities from hydrogen cyanide or cyanamide (widely accepted prebiotic molecules), it has extremely high water solubility, and it can concentrate to form eutectics from aqueous solutions. We propose a model for the origin of a variety of canonical and non\u2010canonical nucleobases, including some known to form supramolecular assemblies that contain Watson\u2010Crick\u2010like base pairs.The dual nucleophilic\u2010electrophilic character of urea makes it an ideal precursor for the formation of nitrogenous heterocycles. We propose a model for the origin of a variety of canonical and noncanonical nucleobases, including some known to form supramolecular assemblies that contain Watson\u2010Crick\u2010like base pairs. These reactions involve urea condensation with other prebiotic molecules (e.\u2009g., malonic acid) that could be driven by environmental cycles (e.\u2009g., freezing\/thawing, drying\/wetting). The resulting heterocycle assemblies are compatible with the formation of nucleosides and, possibly, the chemical evolution of molecular precursors to RNA. We show that urea eutectics at moderate temperature represent a robust prebiotic source of nitrogenous heterocycles. The simplicity of these pathways, and their independence from specific or rare geological events, support the idea of urea being of fundamental importance to the prebiotic chemistry that gave rise to life on Earth.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/cbic.202000510","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,8]],"date-time":"2020-08-08T01:54:01Z","timestamp":1596851641000},"page":"3504-3510","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":50,"title":["Prebiotic Origin of Pre\u2010RNA Building Blocks in a Urea \u201cWarm Little Pond\u201d Scenario"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"C.","family":"Menor Salv\u00e1n","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution Georgia Institute of Technology  Atlanta GA 30302 USA"},{"name":"Dep. de Biolog\u00eda de Sistemas\/IQAR Universidad de Alcal\u00e1  28806 Madrid Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marcos","family":"Bouza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution Georgia Institute of Technology  Atlanta GA 30302 USA"},{"name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry Georgia Institute of Technology  Atlanta GA 30302 USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"David M.","family":"Fialho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution Georgia Institute of Technology  Atlanta GA 30302 USA"},{"name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry Georgia Institute of Technology  Atlanta GA 30302 USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bradley T.","family":"Burcar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution Georgia Institute of Technology  Atlanta GA 30302 USA"},{"name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry Georgia Institute of Technology  Atlanta GA 30302 USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Facundo M.","family":"Fern\u00e1ndez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution Georgia Institute of Technology  Atlanta GA 30302 USA"},{"name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry Georgia Institute of Technology  Atlanta GA 30302 USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nicholas V.","family":"Hud","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NSF-NASA Center for Chemical Evolution Georgia Institute of Technology  Atlanta GA 30302 USA"},{"name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry Georgia Institute of Technology  Atlanta GA 30302 USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,9,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_2_1_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1098\/rstb.2011.0134"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/anie.201506585"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nature08013"},{"key":"e_1_2_2_4_1","author":"Okamura H.","year":"2019","journal-title":"Chem. 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