Abstract
The emergence of molecular oxygen on early Earth is conventionally attributed to the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis. A persistent challenge for early life, however, was the management of reactive oxygen species such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which could arise through a variety of abiotic processes. Here we report that some RNA molecules, when coordinated with ferrous iron (Fe2+), catalyze the oxidation of H2O2 into O2 and H2O under anoxic conditions that mimic the early Earth environment. This previously unrecognized RNA-based redox activity suggests that ancient RNA-metal complexes may have contributed to the detoxification of H2O2 and the management of oxidative stress prior to the evolution of protein enzymes. Such RNA–Fe complexes provide a plausible molecular mechanism linking early geochemical oxidants to primitive biological redox chemistry.
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All data generated and analyzed in this study are included in this published article and its Supplementary Information. Primary datasets supporting the main findings are provided as Supplementary Data files: Supplementary Data 1 (Fig. 3), Supplementary Data 2 and 3 (Fig. 4), and Supplementary Data 4 (Fig. 5).
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Drs. Steve Sheng-Fa Yu and Ivan Tsai (Institute of Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taiwan) for training and access to the EPR facility. We also acknowledge Drs. S. Yu, I. Tsai, J. Lin, and C. Chang for helpful discussions. This work is supported by the National Science and Technology Council (NSCT-112-2311-B-002-010).
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Y.C.W., J.H.T., L.C.Y., and C.H. conceived and designed the study. Y.C.W. and J.H.T. performed the experiments and analyzed the data. Y.C.W. and L.C.Y. provided key materials. C.H. supervised the project. Y.C.W., J.H.T., L.C.Y., and C.H. co-wrote the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the final version of the paper.
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Wang, YC., Tu, JH., Yu, LC. et al. RNA−Iron complexes catalyse prebiotic oxygen generation. Commun Chem (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-026-01935-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-026-01935-6
