The Formose reaction is the most important chemical reaction regarding our existence and is important to various scientific fields such as astrobiology.

The Formose reaction converts two simple molecules of formaldehyde (CH2O) into glycoldehyde which can convert into essential sugars such as glucose and ribose (which forms RNA). This is one "stage" of the reaction:

[image] http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/local/projects/george/sugar2.jpg[/image]

The name is derived from the word "form" from formaldehyde and "ose" from aldose.

This is one molecule of glycoldehyde. The components of this can form ribose and glucose as shown by the pink bonds. Note that carbon atoms are omitted in the D-Glucose molecule. That's a shorthand method in organic chemistry. It also doesn't balance because these are posibillities.

[image] http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/local/projects/george/sugar3.jpb.jpg[/image]

To understand the true beauty of this reaction, you have to understand the properties of formaldehyde.

Formaldehyde is a poisonous compound which is abundant in gas clouds in outer space. The fact that such a deadly compound can actually make a lot of essential organic compounds is pure beauty in itself.

This reaction is key in understanding the origins of life. It gives an explaination of how life came about. RNA is an essential molecule for cells as this is fundamental in protein synthesis. The sheer abundance of formaldehyde also hints at the possibillity of other life forms. However, looking at the intricacy of the actual reaction itself makes this seem very unlikely. It is like a system of reactions that lead to sugars. It's too complex to describe here. I'll link you the page which has full details.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formose_reaction

You will need an advanced understanding of chemistry but you can still appreciate it in its full form without the understanding.