{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,6]],"date-time":"2026-09-06T22:33:41Z","timestamp":1788734021049,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,13]],"date-time":"2021-04-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1618272000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001824","name":"Grantov\u00e1 Agentura \u010cesk\u00e9 Republiky","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["19-03314S"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["19-03314S"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001824","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Synthesis of RNA nucleobases from formamide is one of the recurring topics of prebiotic chemistry research. Earlier reports suggest that thymine, the substitute for uracil in DNA, may also be synthesized from formamide in the presence of catalysts enabling conversion of formamide to formaldehyde. In the current paper, we show that to a lesser extent conversion of uracil to thymine may occur even in the absence of catalysts. This is enabled by the presence of formic acid in the reaction mixture that forms as the hydrolysis product of formamide. Under the reaction conditions of our study, the disproportionation of formic acid may produce formaldehyde that hydroxymethylates uracil in the first step of the conversion process. The experiments are supplemented by quantum chemical modeling of the reaction pathway, supporting the plausibility of the mechanism suggested by Saladino and coworkers.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules26082248","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,13]],"date-time":"2021-04-13T10:58:07Z","timestamp":1618311487000},"page":"2248","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Prebiotic Route to Thymine from Formamide\u2014A Combined Experimental\u2013Theoretical Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"26","author":[{"given":"Luk\u00e1\u0161","family":"Petera","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"J. Heyrovsk\u00fd Institute of Physical Chemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Dolej\u0161kova 3, CZ 18223 Prague 8, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8285-4346","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Klaudia","family":"Mrazikova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Kr\u00e1lovopolsk\u00e1 135, CZ 61265 Brno, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6332-8917","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lukas","family":"Nejdl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Mendel University in Brno, Zem\u011bd\u011blsk\u00e1 1, CZ 61300 Brno, Czech Republic"},{"name":"Central European Institute of Technology, Brno University of Technology, Purkynova 123, CZ 61200 Brno, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kristyna","family":"Zemankova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Mendel University in Brno, Zem\u011bd\u011blsk\u00e1 1, CZ 61300 Brno, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marketa","family":"Vaculovicova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Mendel University in Brno, Zem\u011bd\u011blsk\u00e1 1, CZ 61300 Brno, Czech Republic"},{"name":"Central European Institute of Technology, Brno University of Technology, Purkynova 123, CZ 61200 Brno, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adam","family":"Pastorek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"J. Heyrovsk\u00fd Institute of Physical Chemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Dolej\u0161kova 3, CZ 18223 Prague 8, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Svatopluk","family":"Civis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"J. Heyrovsk\u00fd Institute of Physical Chemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Dolej\u0161kova 3, CZ 18223 Prague 8, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Petr","family":"Kubelik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"J. Heyrovsk\u00fd Institute of Physical Chemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Dolej\u0161kova 3, CZ 18223 Prague 8, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alan","family":"Heays","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"J. Heyrovsk\u00fd Institute of Physical Chemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Dolej\u0161kova 3, CZ 18223 Prague 8, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1895-2950","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Cassone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Chemical-Physical Processes, Italian National Research Council (IPCF-CNR), Viale Ferdinando Stagno d\u2019Alcontres 37, 98158 Messina, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiri","family":"Sponer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Kr\u00e1lovopolsk\u00e1 135, CZ 61265 Brno, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Martin","family":"Ferus","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"J. Heyrovsk\u00fd Institute of Physical Chemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Dolej\u0161kova 3, CZ 18223 Prague 8, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5794-2873","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Judit","family":"Sponer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biophysics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Kr\u00e1lovopolsk\u00e1 135, CZ 61265 Brno, Czech Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"618","article-title":"Origin of life: The RNA world","volume":"319","author":"Gilbert","year":"1986","journal-title":"Nat. Cell Biol."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Kasha, M., and Pullman, B. (1962). On the problems of evolution and biochemical information transfer. 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