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The prebiotic origins of biopolymers and metabolic co‐factors are key questions in Origins of Life studies. In a simple warm‐little‐pond model, using a drying phase to produce a urea‐enriched solution, we present a prebiotic synthetic path for the simultaneous formation of neopterins and tetrahydroneopterins, along with purine nucleosides. We show that, in the presence of ribose and in a formylating environment consisting of urea, ammonium formate, and water (UAFW), the formation of neopterins from pyrimidine precursors is robust, while the simultaneous formation of guanosine requires a significantly higher ribose concentration. Furthermore, these reactions provide a tetrahydropterin–pterin redox pair. This model suggests a prebiotic link in the origin of purine nucleosides and pterin cofactors that provides a possible deep prebiotic temporal connection for the emergence of nucleic acids and metabolic cofactors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: pterins; guanosine; origins of life; RNA world; phosphorylation EN pterins guanosine origins of life RNA world phosphorylation 1 1 1 07/13/22 20220711 NES 220711 B Guanosine and pterins are depicted as the constellation Gemini b . However, like Pollux from Greek mythology, guanosine would not have been born alone - pterins would have been formed in equal (or, in this case, even in major) parts through prebiotic reactions. Pterins, guanosine, origins of life, RNA world, phosphorylation. [Extracted from the article]