Prussian Blue as a Prebiotic Reagent

摘要

Ferrocyanide has been proposed as a potential prebiotic reagent and the complex salt Prussian Blue, Fe_4[Fe(CN)_6]_3, might be an important reservoir of HCN, in the early Earth. HCN is considered the main precursor of amino acids and purine and pyrimidine bases under prebiotic conditions. Recently, we observed the formation of Prussian Blue in spark discharge experiments using saline solutions of ferrous chloride, FeC1_2. Using Prussian Blue as starting material in ammonium suspensions, we obtained organic compounds containing nitrogen. These results seem to indicate that Prussian Blue could have been first, a sink of HCN, and then in subsequent reactions, triggered by pH fluctuations, it might have lead to organic life precursors.