Costanzo, GiovannaGiovannaCostanzoGiorgi, AlessandraAlessandraGiorgiScipioni, AnitaAnitaScipioniASI Sponsor2020-09-172020-09-172017-08-01https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13025/5106We report that 3',5'-cyclic CMP undergoes nonenzymatic di- and trimerization at 20 °C under dry conditions upon proton or UV irradiation. The reaction involves stacking of the cyclic monomers and subsequent polymerization through serial transphosphorylations between the stacked monomers. Proton- and UV-induced oligomerization of 3',5'-cyclic CMP demonstrates that pyrimidines-similar to purines-might also have taken part in the spontaneous generation of RNA under plausible prebiotic conditions as well as in an extraterrestrial context. The observed polymerization of naturally occurring 3',5'-cyclic nucleotides supports the possibility that the extant genetic nucleic acids might have originated by way of a straight Occamian path, starting from simple reactions between plausibly preactivated monomers.RNA; cyclic CMPs; nucleotides; polymerization; proton and UV irradiationjournal article10.1002/cbic.2017001225a37a0026c5e1b5a034b8acb5a37a0026c5e1b5a034b8acb5a37a0026c5e1b5a034b8acbhttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cbic.201700122/abstract;jsessionid=8555A6F1AC88EBF070D6EC453D79BF1D.f04t015a37a0026c5e1b5a034b8acb