Chinese Journal of Organic Chemistry Previous Articles     Next Articles

通往生命起源的化学之路

朱山辉a, 刘天飞a,b,*   

  1. a南开大学化学学院,元素有机全国重点实验室,有机新物质创造前沿科学中心,天津 300071;
    b物质绿色创造与制造海河实验室 天津 300192
  • 收稿日期:2026-05-19 修回日期:2026-07-04
  • 基金资助:
    国家重点研发计划(No. 2022YFB4101800), 国家自然科学基金(Nos. 22171141, 22193010, 22193014), 全国重点实验室天津市重大专项(Grant 25ZXZSSS00700), 中央高校基本科研业务费(No. 020-63263149)资助项目.

The Chemical Pathways to The Origin of Life

Shanhui Zhua, Tianfei Liua,b,*   

  1. aState Key Laboratory and Institute of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071;
    bHaihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin 300192
  • Received:2026-05-19 Revised:2026-07-04
  • Contact: *E-mail: tianfeiliu@nankai.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2022YFB4101800); the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 22171141, 22193010, and 22193014); Tianjin Major Science and Technology Project for National Key Laboratories (Grant 25ZXZSSS00700); the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 020-63263149).

In this review, current popular academic viewpoints on the chemical evolutionary pathways to the origin of life are summarized. It contains possible pathways revealed by exploration of deep-sea geological samples, deep-space observations, and artificial laboratory simulations and experiments, revealing the synthesis of fatty acids, fatty alcohols, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen-, sulfur-, and phosphorus-containing organic compounds from inorganic matters in Earth's initial environments. It also contains the latest advances in the theory of protocell and experiments for its functional construction based on theory of the organic molecular aggregation and self-coiling developed by Prof. Xi-Kui Jiang et al., the emergence of rhythmic and periodic orders, self-replication and evolution, and the assembly theory. Finally, the theory of last universal common ancestor and experimental attempts at artificially synthesized cells are also reviewed. This review can provide important references for future research on the origin of life and the search for extraterrestrial life.

Key words: the origin of life, hydrophobic-lipophilic interactions, assembly theory, protocell, artificial synthetic cell