N-phosphorylation of amino acids by trimetaphosphate in aqueous solution—learning from prebiotic synthesis

Abstract

Inspired by a reactivity study between sodium trimetaphosphate (P₃m) and amino acids in prebiotic chemistry, a one-step reaction with efficient purification procedure in aqueous media has been developed for the synthesis of N-phosphono-amino acids (NPAA). P₃m was used to phosphorylate amino acids to NPAA with yields of 60∼91%. The by-products, inorganic polyphosphates, were recycled to regenerate the phosphorylation reagent P₃m.