Activated Acetic Acid by Carbon Fixation on (Fe,Ni)S Under Primordial Conditions

Abstract

In experiments modeling the reactions of the reductive acetyl–coenzyme A pathway at hydrothermal temperatures, it was found that an aqueous slurry of coprecipitated NiS and FeS converted CO and CH 3 SH into the activated thioester CH 3 -CO-SCH 3 , which hydrolyzed to acetic acid. In the presence of aniline, acetanilide was formed. When NiS-FeS was modified with catalytic amounts of selenium, acetic acid and CH 3 SH were formed from CO and H 2 S alone. The reaction can be considered as the primordial initiation reaction for a chemoautotrophic origin of life. </jats:p