Question

From the point of view of early chemical evolution that preceded the origin of life on earth, the most important simple organic molecules formed were

• A. sugars and amino acids
• B. glycerol and fatty acids
• C. purines and pyrimidines
• D. all of these

Answer 1

Answer: (D)

The early inorganic molecules interacted and produced simple organic molecules such as simple sugars (e.g., ribose, deoxyribose, glucose, etc.), nitrogenous bases (e.g., purines, pyrimidines), amino acids, glycerol, fatty acids, etc
$CH_{4} + CO_{2} + H_{2}O$ $\to$ Sugars + Glycerol + Fatty acid
$CH_{4} + HCN + NH_{3} + H_{2}O$ $\to$ Purines + pyrimidines
$CH_{4} + NH_{3} + CO_{2} + H_{2}O$ $\to$ Amino acids