{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]],"date-time":"2026-10-08T14:49:15Z","timestamp":1791470955067,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,3,27]],"date-time":"2019-03-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1553644800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,3,27]],"date-time":"2019-03-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1553644800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Astrobiology"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,4]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    While formaldehyde (HCHO) was likely generated in Earth's prebiotic atmosphere by ultraviolet light, electrical discharge, and\/or volcano-created lightning, HCHO could not have accumulated in substantial amounts in prebiotic environments, including those needed for prebiotic processes that generate nucleosidic carbohydrates. HCHO at high concentrations in alkaline solutions self-reacts in the Cannizzaro reaction to give methanol and formate, neither having prebiotic value. Here, we explore the possibility that volcanic sulfur dioxide (SO\n                    <jats:sub>2<\/jats:sub>\n                    ) might have generated a reservoir for Hadean HCHO by a reversible reaction with HCHO to give hydroxymethanesulfonate (HMS). We show that salts of HMS are stable as solids at 90\u00b0C and do not react with themselves in solution, even at high (&gt;8\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">M<\/jats:italic>\n                    ) concentrations. This makes them effective stores of HCHO, since the reverse reaction slowly delivers HCHO back into an environment where it can participate in prebiotically useful reactions. Specifically, we show that in alkaline borate solutions, HCHO derived from HMS allows formation of borate-stabilized carbohydrates as effectively as free HCHO, without losing material to Cannizzaro products. Further, we show that SO\n                    <jats:sub>2<\/jats:sub>\n                    can perform similar roles for glycolaldehyde and glyceraldehyde, two intrinsically unstable carbohydrates that are needed by various models as precursors for RNA building blocks. Zircons from the Hadean show that the Hadean mantle likely provided volcanic SO\n                    <jats:sub>2<\/jats:sub>\n                    at rates at least as great as the rates of atmospheric HCHO generation, making the formation of Hadean HMS essentially unavoidable. Thus, hydroxymethylsulfonate adducts of formaldehyde, glycolaldehyde, and glyceraldehyde, including the less soluble barium, strontium, and calcium salts, are likely candidates for prebiotically useful organic minerals on early Earth.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1089\/ast.2017.1800","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,1,7]],"date-time":"2019-01-07T20:30:16Z","timestamp":1546893016000},"page":"506-516","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":25,"title":["Hydroxymethanesulfonate from Volcanic Sulfur Dioxide: A \u201cMineral\u201d Reservoir for Formaldehyde and Other Simple Carbohydrates in Prebiotic Chemistry"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"J.","family":"Kawai","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Alachua, Florida, USA."},{"name":"High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Institute of Materials Structure Science, Tsukuba, Japan."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"D. Chris","family":"McLendon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Alachua, Florida, USA."},{"name":"Firebird Biomolecular Sciences LLC, Alachua, Florida, USA."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"H.-J.","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Firebird Biomolecular Sciences LLC, Alachua, Florida, USA."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"S.A.","family":"Benner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Alachua, Florida, USA."},{"name":"Firebird Biomolecular Sciences LLC, Alachua, Florida, USA."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,3,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_2_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1039\/b809636h"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_3_1","article-title":"Time-Averaged Inventory of Volcanic Sulfur Emissions [online dataset]","author":"Andres R.J.","year":"1998","unstructured":"Andres R.J., and Kasgnoc A.D. (1998) Time-Averaged Inventory of Volcanic Sulfur Emissions [online dataset]. Global Emissions Inventory Activity, Version 1. https:\/\/gcmd.nasa.gov\/KeywordSearch\/Metadata.do?Portal=idn_ceos&KeywordPath=%5BKeyword%3D%27IGBP%27%5D&OrigMetadataNode=GCMD&EntryId=GEIA_SO2_VOLCANO&MetadataView=Full&MetadataType=0&lbnode=mdlb4","journal-title":"Global Emissions Inventory Activity, Version 1"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1021\/ja410886c"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.aad2808"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.040539497"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_7_1","first-page":"67","volume-title":"The Origin of Life","author":"Benner S.A.","year":"2010","unstructured":"Benner S.A., , Kim H.-J., , Kim M.-J., , and Ricardo A. (2010) Planetary organic chemistry and the origins of biomolecules. In The Origin of Life, 4th ed., edited by D. Deamer, and J.W. Szostak, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, pp 67\u201387."},{"key":"e_1_3_2_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1021\/ar200332w"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1021\/j150664a059"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/jlac.18611200308"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/jlac.18530880114"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.precamres.2008.04.002"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/polym2030211"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jcis.2014.02.034"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1134\/S0031030113090062"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_16_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/0004-6981(86)90253-2"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_17_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2113\/gselements.1.3.145"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_18_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s11084-013-9350-5"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_19_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1089\/ast.2014.1209"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_20_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1029\/RG019i004p00505"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_21_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/BF01809851"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_22_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1021\/ja201769f"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_23_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/anie.201608001"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_24_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1029\/JD091iD02p02801"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_25_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1039\/c1nj20191c"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_26_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0377-0273(99)00161-4"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_27_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1021\/ac050258d"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_28_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/cber.19130460193"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_29_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.icarus.2013.02.035"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_30_1","first-page":"391","article-title":"The \u201cstrong\u201d RNA world hypothesis","volume":"13","author":"Neveu M.","year":"2013","unstructured":"Neveu M., , Kim H.J., , and Benner S.A. 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