Question

According to abiogenic origin of life, proposed by Oparin ............. was the simplest organic compound to arise.

• A. Organic acids
• B. Hydrocarbons
• C. Carbohydrates
• D. Proteins

Answer 1

The correct option is B Hydrocarbons

In the early decades of the twentieth century, J.B.S. Haldane and Alexander Oparin independently set forth similar ideas concerning the conditions required for the origin of life on Earth. Both suggested that organic molecules could be formed from non organic materials in presence of an external energy source and that the primitive atmosphere was reducing and contained Ammonia and water vapour, among other gases.
Oparin suggested that organic compounds could have undergone a series of reactions leading to more complex molecules. He proposed that the molecules formed colloid aggregate or coacervates, in an aqueous environment. Haldane hypothesized that the oceans served as a huge cooking pot, powered by the sun or lighting, chemical reactions could occur in an aqueous environment to form a huge diversity of organic compounds.
Haldane coined the term 'prebiotic soup' that consisted of an abundance of methane, ammonia and water. The first organic molecules thought to have formed was Hydrocarbon chains, which were composed solely of hydrogen atoms bonded to carbon atoms. Hydrocarbons provided the foundation framework for the formation of more complex organic molecules, such as simple amino acids.