The formation of carbohydrates represents an essential step to provide building blocks and a source of chemical energy in several models for the emergence of life. Formaldehyde, glycolaldehyde and a basic catalyst are the initial components forming a variety of sugar molecules in the cascade-type multi-step formose reaction. While numerous side reactions and even deterioration can be observed in aqueous media, selective prebiotic sugar formation is feasible in solid-state, mechanochemical reactions and might have occurred in early geochemistry. However, the precise role of different basic catalysts and the influence of the atmospheric conditions in the solid-state formose reaction remain unknown. Here we show, that in a primordial scenario the mechanochemical formose reaction is capable to form monosaccharides with a broad variety of mineral classes as catalysts with only minute amounts of side products such as lactic acid or methanol, independent of the atmospheric conditions. The results give insight into recent findings of formose sugars on meteorites and offer a water-free and robust pathway for monosaccharides independent of the external conditions both for the early Earth or an extra-terrestrial setting.

碳水化合物的形成代表了在几种生命出现模型中提供构建块和化学能源的重要步骤。甲醛、乙醇醛和碱性催化剂是级联式多步甲糖反应中形成多种糖分子的初始组分。虽然在水性介质中可以观察到许多副反应甚至变质，但在固态、机械化学反应中选择性益生元糖的形成是可行的，并且可能已经发生在早期地球化学中。然而，不同碱性催化剂的确切作用以及大气条件对固态甲糖反应的影响仍然未知。在这里我们展示，在原始情况下，机械化学甲糖反应能够形成单糖，具有多种矿物质作为催化剂，只有微量的副产物，如乳酸或甲醇，与大气条件无关。这些结果深入了解了陨石上甲糖的最新发现，并为早期地球或地外环境提供了独立于外部条件的单糖的无水和稳健途径。