First sugars needed silicates to survive

Earth's first complex sugars could have formed with a little help from silicate ions, according to a new study by US chemists. Their findings provide support for the role of the much maligned formose reaction in origins of life theories.

The formose reaction, which produces sugars from simple aldehydes, has been implicated in prebiotic synthesis theories for over 60 years. But Joseph Lambert, who led the study at Northwestern University in Illinois, explains that it hasn't always found favour. 'Mostly it's been pummelled and attacked because of the fact that the sugars are not stable,' he says. 'But we don't have anything else. There is no other chemical reaction that works so well, because the formose reaction is so simple.'  More...

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2010/February/18021002.asp