Prebiotic synthesis of vitamin B6-type compounds

Abstract

Heating a dilute solution of NH3 and glycoaldehyde gives a large family of pyridines substituted with the same functional groups as occur in the forms of vitamin B6. Thus, vitamin B6-like molecules could have been present on the early Earth and could have been available for catalysis of primitive transamination reactions. Ethanolamine and N-methylethanolamine are also formed as major products. These are choline-like molecules, the latter of which is apparently formed by a prebiotic methylation process.