Vulcanism, mercury-sensitized photo-reactions and abiogenetic synthesis: a theoretical treatment.

Attention is called to the photodynamic and thermodynamic properties of Periodic Group IIb elements, most notably Hg, as they relate to ultra-violet sensitization in organic chemical reactions. The energy levels of 6(1) P1 and 6(3) P1 resonance states and the high vapor pressure ((greater than 10(-3) mm) of the metal at temperatures as low as 293 K bring Hg with the range of bond dissociation energies in most organic molecules and many inorganics. These capabilities considered together with recent evidence for Hg emission as a regular part of volcanic and geothermal processes provide the basis for our proposal that Hg-sensitized ultraviolet photo-reactions may have played a significant part in abiogenetic organic synthesis on the primative earth.