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2310378 
Technical Report 
Chemical evolution of the citric acid cycle: Sunlight and UV photolysis of cycle intermediates 
Waddell, TG; Geevarghese, SK; Henderson, BS; Pagni, RM; Newton, JS 
1989 
BIOSIS/90/16254 
19 
6 
603-608 
eng 
BIOSIS COPYRIGHT: BIOL ABS. Sunlight or laboratory ultraviolet photolyses of oxalacetic, succinic, fumaric, malic and citric acids were carried out on 0.1 M aqueous solutions. The nonvolatile products were isolated and identified by GC-MS analysis of derived methyl esters. Several conversions corresponding to modern citric acid cycle reactions were observed. Notably, oxalacetic acid gave citric as the major product of sunlight photolysis. Other identified products relate to chemical evolution and further support the important role of succinic acid in the origin of life.