Abstract
Phosphate esters and anhydrides are abundant motifs in biologically important molecules.
Their chemical synthesis, modification, and purification are still challenging tasks
often restricted to specialized laboratories. The isolation and analytical characterization
of novel highly charged (poly)phosphorylated natural products comes with many challenges
but also opportunities. Understanding the in vivo function of such molecules is another central endeavor. More often than not, studies
into the function of charged metabolites are hampered by insufficient cellular uptake
and thus delivery technologies are in high demand. Overall, research in this field
requires several complementary approaches. This account discusses selected examples
of some emerging technologies in organophosphate chemistry, with a focus on recent
achievements in the authors laboratory usually in the context of diverse collaborative
efforts.
1 Prologue
2 Introduction
3 The Inositol Phosphates and Pyrophosphates
3.1 Novel Synthetic Approaches
3.2 Stereochemical Assignment
3.3 A Protecting Group Concept for Phosphates
3.4 Cellular Delivery
3.5 Selected Examples of New Biology
4 Nucleotides
4.1 Iterative Phosphorylation
4.2 Bidirectional Phosphorylation
5 Conclusion
6 Outlook
Key words
phosphorylation - inositol pyrophosphates - nucleotides - chemical biology - chiral
solvating agents - phosphate homeostasis
