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Si- based life
Lets say we have a silicon-based life. What are the most common
structures and chemical reactions we would encounter with ? and also, what would be the suitable temperature range for such life to exist ? (since SiO2 might have to be a gas, or just replaced by another substance) |
#2
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Si- based life
On 7 Mar 2004, Amirsaman wrote:
|Lets say we have a silicon-based life. What are the most common |structures and chemical reactions we would encounter with ? and also, |what would be the suitable temperature range for such life to exist ? |(since SiO2 might have to be a gas, or just replaced by another |substance) If you throw in an atom of carbon for every dozen atoms of silicon, you ought to be able to bring down the surrounding environment's temperature considerably. Otherwise, the average temperature for a silicon based life form is going to be a lot nearer the melting point of 'glass.' In any case, we should expect the life form to be capable of thriving in an environment where the silicon is available to the life form in a liquid solution of some kind. I don't see why the silicon *has* to be gaseous. The atoms have to be easily available for both taking and reducing, and subsequent picking up again. Higher temperatures make sense, but then so does a higher overall pressure. You ought to be able to plot out a curve of some kind on graph paper. |
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Is- based life
In message , Amirsaman
writes Lets say we have a silicon-based life. What are the most common structures and chemical reactions we would encounter with ? and also, what would be the suitable temperature range for such life to exist ? (since SiO2 might have to be a gas, or just replaced by another substance) Requiring gaseous SiO2 might not be a wise choice - too hot. But SiO2 might be useful for its skeleton (a la diatoms on Earth). Given vulcanism to provide some raw ingredients then obtaining energy by reducing chlorine to HCl, sulphur to H2S and/or oxidising sulphur to SO2 SiCl4 might do as a solvent. Won't get on well with water though. Silanes will provide some of the building blocks, but I expect you will still need some carbon atoms in there to get enough interesting chemistry to make life. Regards, -- Martin Brown |
#4
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Si- based life
you mentioned the Silicanes as possible building blocks. But silicanes
can not get more complicated than Si6H14 and thus, silicanes alone would not be able to form complex molecules as DNA lets say. So, why not Si-O chains since they can become very long chains? is it because there is no variability? or is there some phase problem here? |
#5
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Is- based life
In article , Martin Brown
wrote: In message , Amirsaman writes Lets say we have a silicon-based life. What are the most common structures and chemical reactions we would encounter with ? Life with Silicon would be difficult: Si does not easily form Pi bonds so we do not have any chemistry involving additions to molecules at these bonds. ( Lots of redox reactions do this. ) Si does not form long chains so things like enzymes & proteins are awkward. DNA like structures might be possible through SiOx chains with side groups carrying the genetic information. The details about reading this info and transcribing it to other Si-based biomolecules are left as an exercise for the student. ( I certainly don't know how to do this, and my degree is in Chemistry. ) A great deal of Carbon biochemistry is based on a "lock and key model" where the shape of the molecule is vital. These shapes are held by C-C bonds ( both Sigma and Pi ) as well as electrostatic forces. We do not see these complicated shapes in Si based molecules. Finaly, is there enough Chlorine available to form SiCl4 oceans? The oceans are about 3.5% salt by weight, this means there are 83 water molecules for each NaCl. Since Chlorine has atomic number 17 ( an odd number ) it is fairly rare. tom PS SiCl4 is non-polar, this is also an issue. -- We have discovered a therapy ( NOT a cure ) for the common cold. Play tuba for an hour. |
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