Reactions of formamide (NH2COH) in the presence of catalysts of both terrestrial and meteoritic origin yield, in plausible and variegated conditions, a large panel of precursors of (pre)genetic and (pre)metabolic interest. Formamide chemistry potentially satisfies all of the steps from the very initial precursors to RNA. Water chemistry enters the scene in RNA non-enzymatic synthesis and recombination.

CEITEC Central European Institute of Technology Masaryk University Campus Bohunice Kamenice 5 CZ 62500 Brno Czech Republic

Dipartimento di Scienze Ecologiche e Biologiche Università della Tuscia Via San Camillo De Lellis 01100 Viterbo Italy

Fondazione Istituto Pasteur Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti c o Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie Charles Darwin Sapienza Università di Roma P le Aldo Moro 5 00185 Rome Italy

Institute of Biophysics Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Královopolská 135 61265 Brno Czech Republic

Istituto di Biologia e Patologia Molecolari CNR P le Aldo Moro 5 00185 Rome Italy

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