Phosphoric acid—anhydrid bonds

When two phosphate residues bond, they do not form an ester, but an energy-rich phosphoric acid anhydride bond, as... 

Acyl residues are usually activated by transfer to coenzyme A (2). In coenzyme A (see p. 12), pantetheine is linked to 3 -phos-pho-ADP by a phosphoric acid anhydride bond. Pantetheine consists of three components connected by amide bonds—pantoic acid, alanine, and cysteamine. The latter two components are biogenic amines formed by the decarboxylation of aspartate and cysteine, respectively. The compound formed from pantoic acid and p-alanine (pantothenic acid) has vitamin-like characteristics for humans (see p. 368). Reactions between the thiol group of the cysteamine residue and carboxylic acids give rise to thioesters, such as acetyl CoA. This reaction is strongly endergonic, and it is therefore coupled to exergonic processes. Thioesters represent the activated form of carboxylic adds, because acyl residues of this type have a high chemical potential and are easily transferred to other molecules. This property is often exploited in metabolism. 

In standard conditions, the change in free enthalpy AG° (see p. 18) that occurs in the hydrolysis of phosphoric acid anhydride bonds amounts to -30 to -35 kj mol at pH 7. The particular anhydride bond of ATP that is cleaved only has a minor influence on AG° (1-2). Even the hydrolysis of diphosphate (also known as pyrophosphate 4) still yields more than -30 kJ mol . By contrast, cleavage of the ester bond between ribose and phosphate only provides -9 kJ mol (3). 

The subsequent cleavage of the thio-ester succinylCoA into succinate and coenzyme A by succinic acid-CoA ligase (succinyl CoA synthetase, succinic thiokinase) is strongly exergonic and is used to synthesize a phosphoric acid anhydride bond ( substrate level phosphorylation , see p. 124). However, it is not ATP that is produced here as is otherwise usually the case, but instead guanosine triphosphate (CTP). However, GTP can be converted into ATP by a nucleoside diphosphate kinase (not shown). 

Energy requirements in protein synthesis are high. Four energy-rich phosphoric acid anhydride bonds are hydrolyzed for each amino acid residue. Amino acid activation uses up two energy-rich bonds per amino acid (ATP AMP + PP see p. 248), and two GTPs are consumed per elongation cycle. In addition, initiation and termination each require one GTP per chain. 

Look at ATP. In the figure the bolded region is the "recognition" part of the molecule, while the polyphosphate is the chemically active portion. Each of the phosphoric acid anhydride bonds is unstable. That is hydrolyzing either will release a lot of energy. 

As noted in the introduction, the effects of multiple modes of catalysis are often multiplicative rather than simply additive. Consequently, it is not surprising that a number of hydrolytic metalloenzymes have evolved that utilize a constellation of three metal ions in catalysis. Perhaps not coincidentally, all well-characterized examples of this class catalyze the hydrolytic cleavage of phosphate ester or phosphoric acid anhydride bonds, which represent a difficult and long-standing chemical problem. In every case but one, the metal ions in the trimetal centers are all zinc. As we shall see, alkaline phosphatase utilizes a Zn2Mg trinuclear center. It should be pointed out that in the older literature many of the enzymes discussed in this section have been described as containing dinuclear metal centers. Only in the last few years has it become clear that three metal ions are present and participate in catalysis by these systems. 

The only element that was discovered in body fluids (urine). This is plausible, as P plays a main role in all life processes. It is one of the five elements that make up DNA (besides C, H, N, and 0 evolution did not require anything else to code all life). The P-O-P bond, phosphoric acid anhydride, is the universal energy currency in cells. The skeletons of mammals consists of Ca phosphate (hydroxylapatite). The element is encountered in several allotropic modifications white phosphorus (soft, pyrophoric P4, very toxic), red phosphorus (nontoxic, used to make the striking surface of matchboxes), black phosphorus (formed under high pressures). Phosphates are indispensable as fertilizer, but less desirable in washing agents as the waste water is too concentrated with this substance (eutrophication). It has a rich chemistry, is the basis for powerful insecticides, but also for warfare agents. A versatile element. 

Compounds of one acid with another are referred to as acid anhydrides. A particularly large amount of energy is required for the formation of an acid—anhydride bond. Phosphoric anhydride bonds therefore play a central role in the storage and release of chemical energy in the cell (see p. 122). Mixed anhydrides between carboxylic acids and phosphoric acid are also very important energy-rich metabolites in cellular metabolism. 

Phosphoric acid molecules can form acid-anhydride bonds with each other. It is therefore possible for two nucleotides to be linked via the phosphate residues. This gives rise to dinucleotides with a phosphoric acid-anhydride structure. This group includes the coenzymes NAD(P) " and CoA, as well as the flavin derivative FAD (1 see p. 104). 

A minimal NRPS module consists of an adenylation domain (A), condensation domain (C) and a peptidyl-carrier protein (PCP). In the first instance, the substrate-specific adenylation domain activates the carboxyl region of the amino acid with ATP, forming the mixed acyl-phosphoric acid anhydride with AMP, followed by loading onto the phosphopanthetheine moiety of the PCP. The condensation domain subsequently catalyses the nucleophific attack of the amino group of the previously activated amino acid, to the carbonyl of the tethered acyl group from the previous module [38, 39]. This results in the formation of a new peptide bond between the two units (Fig. 1.15). 

Another three-carbon compound, 1,3-bisphospho-glycerate (Fig. 13—4), contains an anhydride bond between the carboxyl group at C-l and phosphoric acid. Hydrolysis of this acyl phosphate is accompanied by a large, negative, standard free-energy change (AG ° =... 

Also, phosphoric acid forms an extensive series of anhydrides (with P—O—P bonds), which further diversify the number and kind of phosphate esters. The most important phosphate esters are derivatives of mono-, di-, and triphosphoric acid (sometimes classified as ortho-, pyro-, and meta-phos-... 

Weber [61,62] has developed in the context of prebiotic chemistry an original pathway for a-aminothioester synthesis [180], which can start from hydroxyaldehydes 30 intermediates in the formose reaction (a likely prebiotic pathway to carbohydrates). Obviously, thioesters themselves are not observed as products because of their fast hydrolysis in the medium, but they could be converted into peptide bonds in the presence of amino acids or peptide free amino groups, and into mixed anhydride with phosphoric acid in the presence of inorganic phosphate. The reaction involves two key-steps the condensation of ammonia and of the mercaptan on a-keto aldehyde 31... 

Derivatives of phosphoric acid, pyrophosphoric acid, and related compounds are very important in biological systems. Pyrophosphoric acid is an anhydride of phosphoric acid. Adenosine triphosphate, an energy carrier that is universally found in living organisms, has a phosphorus dianhydride connected to an adenosine group by a phosphate ester linkage. Phosphorus ester bonds are used to form the polymeric backbone of DNA (see Chapter 27). 

Phosphoric acid ester amides suffer insertion into the N—H bond (770). Dehydration of 42 with trifluoroacetic acid anhydride and triethylamine yields the ketimide 43. Decomposition of 42 at 170°C leads to recovery of the starting material. 

A. Bond A, an anhydride, is formed when a carboxylic acid and a phosphoric acid react, splitting out H20. 

Bonds to Oxygen.—Compounds of Lower Oxidation State. Mixed sulphur-phosphorus anhydrides result when sulphonic acids and dialkyl hydrogen phosphites react according to equation (17).448 Further work on the preparation of trimethylsilyl esters of phosphorous acids has been carried out by... 

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