Abstract
Formose reaction (FR) is of particular interest in prebiotic chemistry, as well as origin of life research, since it sets the grounds for non-biological chemical reactions producing sugar. In the formose process, which is based on the aldol condensation mechanism, low-carbon aldehyde molecules are transformed into polyol with higher carbon. Moreover, in an alkaline medium with a heterogeneous catalyst present, this process is sped up. This work assesses the efficiency of prebiotic synthesis of mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) via FR when fumed silica (Aerosil) catalyst was present in methanol polar solvent. Comparisons were then made with the same process in the presence of montmorillonite (MMT) as catalyst in water as solvent. The current study demonstrates that the amount of MGA production starts out low and gradually increases when Aerosil and MMT were used as mineral catalysts while methanol and water, respectively, functioned as solvents at pH values of 7.8 and 7.5. Generally speaking, the results indicated that if the target is to produce MEG, water is a better option as an excellent polar solvent in the FR. Consequently, outputs showed higher MEG production efficiency with FR when methanol and Aerosil rather than water when MMT were used as solvent and catalyst, respectively