Copper-rich deep-sea hydrothermal vent minerals facilitate hydrogen cyanide formation from glycine

Copper-rich deep-sea hydrothermal vent minerals facilitate hydrogen cyanide formation from glycine | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Copper-rich deep-sea hydrothermal vent minerals facilitate hydrogen cyanide formation from glycine Ryuhei Nakamura, Zening Yang, Yamei Li, Yanjing Lu, Akira Yamaguchi, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8994779/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In prevailing origin of life scenarios, hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is a key molecule for forming life’s essential building blocks, as demonstrated by HCN-centric prebiotic chemistry. However, whether HCN can be in-situ generated in deep-sea hydrothermal vents (HVs) has remained unexplored. Here, we show that a natural HV mineral consisting of chalcopyrite, pyrite and sphalerite facilitates HCN formation through the anaerobic oxidation of glycine. Using 13C-isotopic labeled glycine under alkaline conditions, free HCN formation reached at 3.2 μM at 25 °C, with the yield increasing threefold at 10 °C. Copper leaching during the reaction, together with the model experiment showing glycine-to-HCN conversion in the presence of CuCl2, indicates that copper(II) functions as an oxidant in this process. Because glycine can be generated through multiple pathways, our findings integrate cyanide chemistry into deep-sea HVs, expanding the chemical diversity accessible within alkaline vent environments and potentially analogous systems beyond Earth. Physical sciences/Chemistry/Chemical origin of life Physical sciences/Chemistry/Environmental chemistry/Geochemistry Physical sciences/Chemistry/Environmental chemistry/Astrochemistry Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files SIChimneyManuscriptYANG20260227.pdf Supplementray information to Copper-rich deep-sea hydrothermal vent minerals facilitate hydrogen cyanide formation from glycine Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8994779","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":607049095,"identity":"45d4eb92-460b-4e45-b107-de629a378ae8","order_by":0,"name":"Ryuhei 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