Amino acid dependent formation of phosphate anhydrides in water mediated by carbonyl sulfide

The reactions of carbonyl sulfide (COS) are investigated in the context of phosphate activation in neutral aqueous solutions. The results have shown that COS, a simple volcanic gas, can mediate both phosphoryl transfer and peptide synthesis reaction via a single intermediate, aminoacyl N-carboxy-anhydride, under mild aqueous conditions on the prebiotic Earth.