g. Anderson and Banin, 1975). Clays might have

played a central role in molecular evolution on the early Earth (Brack, 2006; Bujdák and Rode, 1995; Cairns-Smith and Hartman, 1988; Ponnamperuma et al., 1982). The polymerization of glycine up to the tetrapeptide was achieved on bentonite in a fluctuating environment at 80°C (Lahav Ferrostatin-1 purchase et al., 1978). In our experiments, we found that at temperatures around 200°C glycine loaded Ca-montmorillonite showed two contrasting behaviors: it catalyzed peptide bond formation but also protected the amino acid against irreversible condensation. In a prebiotic environment, such high temperatures may have occurred in active volcanic regions. A typical experiment was as follows. The Ca-montmorillonite SAz-1 obtained from the Clay Minerals Society was used. A sample, which had a particle size of ≤ 2 μm, was suspended in 0.5 mol/L glycine solution. The glycine loaded clay was isolated and dried. Then it was kept at 200°C in a nitrogen atmosphere for 48 h. Afterwards, most of the residue was again suspended in water. The water was removed by evaporation, the clay was dried, and the heating repeated. Four wetting–drying–heating cycles were performed. After each thermolysis, samples of the residue click here were extracted with H2O, D2O

and dilute trifluoroacetic acid, respectively, and subsequently analysed by HPLC, NMR and MALDI-TOF-MS. Besides large amounts of unreacted amino acid, the cyclic diglycine (diketopiperazine) and linear peptides up to the hexapeptide were detected. No chain elongation was observed in the course of the wetting–drying–heating cycles. When glycine is kept at 200°C in a nitrogen atmosphere in the absence of montmorillonite, small amounts of the cyclic dipeptide and a deep black residue (termed as “thermo-melanoid”) are obtained. The thermo-melanoid is water-insoluble. Its see more chemical triclocarban nature is unknown but our data indicate that its formation may be due to unconventional condensation reactions between peptide intermediates. Clearly, Ca-montmorillonite

protects glycine from being irreversibly transformed into the thermo-melanoid and thus alters the thermal behavior of glycine fundamentally. Acknowledgements Financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is gratefully acknowledged. Anderson, D. M. and Banin, A. (1975). Soil and water and its relation to the origin of life. Orig. Life, 6:23–36. Brack, A. (2006). Clay minerals and the origin of life. In Bergaya, F., Theng, B. K. G. and Lagaly, G., editors, Handbook of Clay Science, pages 379–391. Elsevier, Amsterdam. Bujdák, J. and Rode, B. M. (1995). Clay and their possible role in prebiotic peptide bond synthesis. Geol. Carpathica, Ser. Clays, 4:37–48. Cairns-Smith, A.G. and Hartman, H. (1988).