User:Gretashum/Condensation reaction/Kcshaffman Peer Review

General info
(Gretashum)
 * Whose work are you reviewing?


 * Link to draft you're reviewing:User:Gretashum/Condensation reaction
 * Link to the current version of the article (if it exists):Condensation reaction

Notes on how I did the peer review.
- bracketed [] terms should be linked terms

-in-line suggested edits are BOLD

-Notes from me are italicized

Synthesis of prebiotic molecules[edit]
Condensation reactions likely played major roles in the synthesis of the first biotic molecules including early peptides and nucleic acids. However, reactions that lead to elongation of peptides and nucleic acids are both [endergonic] and requires require activation. Maybe explain what activation is. In fact, condensation reactions would be required at multiple steps in RNA oligomerization: the condensation of [nucleobase] and [pentose] ''--do you mean the condensation that links the pentose sugar to the nucleobase? that is not clear to me--'', nucleoside phosphorylation, and nucleotide polymerization.

At room temperature and neutral pH, the thermodynamic requirement for aqueous peptide synthesis (first equation above) is 3.5 kcal/mol; the energy needed to synthesize adenosine monophosphate (second equation) is 2.7 kcal/mol.What is the significance of this?

Plausible condensing agents for early life

Fortunately, both carbon-nitrogen based and phosphorus based condensing agents would likely have been available in prebiotic environments to facilitate the bonds formed in these reactions. These condensing agents include cyanamide, dicyandiamide, and urea. Maybe explain how this increases condensation rxn. Cyanamide is likely to have been generated through the production of limestone in a prebiotic environment, and easily forms its dimer, dicyandiamide'''. Then''' under mild conditions, in the presence of phosphate salt, can hydrolyze to urea. In addition to serving as a precursor for important biomolecules (purines, pyrimidines, and nucleotide precursors), it can serve as a condensing agent for various condensation reactions relevant to the Origin of Life, including dipeptides and nucleotides ''-- what exactly do you mean here, that the relevant condensation reactions form dipeptides and nucleotides? Or, are you saying the condensation reactions form peptide bonds and phosphodiester linkages. The linkages that make proteins and RNA/DNA respectively''.

Condensed phosphates may also serve as condensing agents in prebiotic synthesis reactions. Please expand on this.

''Overall, I would suggest expanding on things you mentioned quickly. Without context, it is hard to understand what you mean. I may be wrong, but I think it might be best to overexplain than expect readers to have the background knowledge. From what I gather, wiki articles are supposed to reach the widest audience that they can. Also be make sure you are using the correct words when talking about nucleotides, nucleic acids, nucleobases, etc. They are often kind of used interchangeably but they do refer to slightly different things. I think you used them all correctly, but it was something I had to be super careful about when I was writing my own article.''

Response to Kevin's Review
I appreciated Kevin's review greatly, and I think he aptly identified that in my attempt to be succinct in Wikipedia's style, I lost a lot of clarity.

I also received feedback from a Wikipedia User that the prebiotic implications of condensation reactions shouldn't dominate the article.

As a result of both of these sets of feedback, I added a section on the importance of condensation reactions in biomolecules more generally and then isolated my prebiotic section to the importance of wet-dry cycles and some discussion of catalysis agents. In response to Kevin's feedback, I did try to explain the role condensation reactions play in fundamental replication processes, but I also leave a lot of the prebiotic aspects rather succinct because I anticipate that more expansion would probably tip off others on Wikipedia who might want this article to stay general until it gets more fleshed out, and then it can be expanded to discuss prebiotic chemistry.