A selective non-enzymatic synthesis of ribose simply from formaldehyde, metal salts and clays.

This study demonstrates that metal-doped-clay (MDC) can be a selective platform for ribose produced from formaldehyde under abiotic conditions. Ribose exhibits superior retention compared with other carbohydrates on naturally occurring minerals on the early Earth in the presence of divalent cations. This finding offers an insight into the necessity of the emergence of ribose as the backbone of extant RNA.