Mechanochemical Activation of Iron Cyano Complexes: A Prebiotic Impact Scenario for the Synthesis of α-Amino Acid Derivatives.

Mechanochemical activation of iron cyano complexes by ball milling results in the formation of HCN, which can be trapped and incorporated into α-aminonitriles. This prebiotic impact scenario can be extended by mechanochemically transforming the resulting α-aminonitriles into α-amino amides using a chemical route related to early Earth conditions.