Difficult question!

My guess would be that there was not a single mechanism responsible,

nor did it happen from one day to the next.

Important mechanisms to name a few probably were:

1)The spontaneous creation of complex organic molecules from simple molecules in proto-
earth.

2)The 3D complexity of very long organic biomolecules, that in combination with external
energy can create complex chemical systems that are difficult to reach equilibrium. Also
these molecules can react with simpler compounds (CaCO3, aminoacids, etc) and create
other molecules with ridiculously complex 3D spatial conformations like them and increase
the available for life chemical reservoir.

3)The natural history of reactions favors (and in a way select) the most stable systems. For
example adhesive properties can make systems endure external events, hydrophobicity can
create membranes, pores, etc, which can protect and sequester reactions, deoxyribonucleic
acids and their packaging can lead to relatively stable structures, etc.

4)The fact that we are the observers of the whole phenomenon gives us a specific viewpoint
that can be deceiving. I will explain:

a)We don’t realize the unfathomable amount of chemical reactions and events that happen
even in a tiny bit of living material. Every chemical reaction in life happens for a natural
reason. There is locally no purpose in them, they are natural events. However, we dont see
plain reactions, we see for example mitochondria, cells, etc.

b)Life from a strictly biochemical perspective is a sum of chemical systems that interact.
From a biochemical standpoint, there is not such a thing as an individual organism. This is
probably a result of a need of human brain to organize and understand systems. Thus, we
think that living systems can create order, while in fact life as a whole, if we even include for
example death, food and nutrient recycling is a much more disordered system overall,
exactly like all spontaneously forming chemical systems.

c)Life’s chemical reactions seem to have a purpose because life self-organizes. However,
who is the observer? We. The results of this process are the observers of the process.
Everything that happens leads to them. This by itself cancels out the epicness of self-
organization. If a river could think, how would it perceive the cycle of water it participates?
Imagine a series of events: A->B->C.......Y->Z->A->B...etc and the observer is (N+O). The
observer will think that this system can self-organize. Although an over-simplification
because life is consisted by unfathomable numbers of chemical interactions, all i am saying
is that any system will be perceived to have self-organizing properties from the perspective
of its results.

And similar systems under the same laws of nature will constantly produce similar results.
Imagine you go to a planet with many chemical reactions on its surface. Your chemical
analysis will be similar both now and after 30 years. Every chemical reaction in life happens
for a natural reason, for example adenine and thymine form bonds during replication. There
is no purpose in them, they are natural events. DNA molecules are a part of the soup, but
they are stable and their interactions will be relatively preserved and will expand. Changes in
DNA sequences will affect the fate of the chemical system and the most sustainable results
will dominate. Natural selection will be in full action, but its like looking it from a different
angle. Biology and chemistry look like 2 sides of the same coin, but it depends on the angle
you observe the phenomenon.

d)There is nothing more tricky than to try to understand logic and human cognition by
using…human cognition. Its like trying to see your eyes with your own eyes.

All thoughts, regardless of how deep or complex, can be reduced down to simple chemical
processes. There are no exceptions.

Reason is driven by what we perceive as pleasure-seeking integral tendencies and internal

forces and instincts (reproduction, survival, etc).