Role of the Interchangeable Cations on the Sorption of Fumaric and Succinic Acids on Montmorillonite and its Relevance in Prebiotic Chemistry
Por:
Melendez-Lopez, A., Colin-Garcia, M., Ortega-Gutierrez, F., Cruz-Castaneda, J.
Publicada:
1 jul 2021
Ahead of Print:
1 jul 2021
Resumen:
It has been proposed that clays could have served as key factors in
promoting the increase in complexity of organic matter in primitive
terrestrial and extraterrestrial environments. The aim of this work is
to study the adsorption-desorption of two dicarboxylic acids, fumaric
and succinic acids, onto clay minerals (sodium and iron
montmorillonite). These two acids may have played a role in prebiotic
chemistry, and in extant biochemistry, they constitute an important
redox couple (e.g. in Krebs cycle) in extant biochemistry. Smectite
clays might have played a key role in the origins of life. The effect of
pH on sorption has been tested; the analysis was performed by UV-vis and
FTIR-ATR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence. The
results show that chemisorption is the main responsible of the
adsorption processes among the dicarboxylic acids and clays. The role of
the ion, present in the clay, is fundamental in the adsorption processes
of dicarboxylic acids. These ions (sodium and iron) were selected due to
their relevance on the geochemical environments that possibly existed
into the primitive Earth. Different mechanisms are proposed to explain
the sorption of dicarboxylic acids in the clay. In this work, we propose
the formation of complexes among metal cations in the clays and
dicarboxylic acids. The organic complexes were probably formed in the
prebiotic environments enabling chemical processes, prior to the
appearance of life. Thus, the data presented here are relevant to the
origin of life studies.
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