Amino acids formation from simple compounds

Laboratory studies have provided evidence that photochemical and photocatalytic (Section 6.8) steps might play an important role in the formation of amino acids or various heterocyclic compounds from very simple molecules. For example, UVC irradiation of acetonitrile ammonia water mixture produces hexamethylenetetramine, a potential precursor of amino acids, via two-step photoinitiated fragmentation of acetamide (formed by acetonitrile hydrolysis) to give carbon oxide, which undergoes further photochemical and dark reactions (Scheme 6.184).1183... 

Amino acids and proteins are not stored within the body. Amino acids absorbed from digested food or synthesized in the body become a part of a temporary supply or pool that may be used in metabolic processes. Objective 8 (Section 24.8), Exercise 24.38. The tumover, Or life expectancy, of proteins is usually expressed in half-lives. Protein half-lives range from several minutes to hundreds of days. Some amino acids in the body are converted into relatively simple but vital nitrogen-containing compounds. The catabolism of amino acids produces intermediates used for energy production, synthesis of glucose, or formation of triglycerides. 

Fig. 3-1 Schematic of the apparatus Stanley Miller used to demonstrate formation of amino acids from simple inorganic compounds under conditions similar to those of the early Earth.

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