Ribitol polyphosphate

In 1965, Baddiley and coworkers2 described a preparation of the ribitol polyphosphate. This approach was based on the condensation of pyrophosphates ... 

Teichoic acids (TAs), naturally occurring polyphosphates of substituted glycerol (7) or ribitol (2) in the simpler cases, are biopolymers isolated from the cell walls (wall TAs) or membranes [membrane TAs or lipoteichoic acids (LTAs)] of various Grampositive bacteria ... 

Typical wall teichoic acids are the linear polyphosphates of glycerol-1,3 or D-ribitol-1,5. Their average polymerization degree varies from 30 to 40. Carbon atoms at positions 2 and 4 in the ribitol and at position 2 in the glycerol moieties are substituted with sugar residues or with D-alanyl ester groups as shown 7 and 2 8). 

The structure of some universal polyols can also be confirmed by NMR techniques, involving and P NMR. myo-Inositol-l,3,4,5,6-pentakisphosphate has been identified by these techniques in avian erythrocytes after separation of inositol polyphosphates by Dowex 1x2 chromatography. Arabitol, mannitol, and ribitol have also been identified using natural abundance criteria by NMR spectroscopy in a number of lichen species. 

The most prominent phosphoms polymers are nucleic acid (NA) and teichoic acid (TA) these naturally occurring polymers are not covered in this chapter. Backbones of NA and TA are composed of hydrolytically stable diesters of phosphoric acids. The major functions of DNA (and several types of RNA) are related to storing and transferring information, genetic code, synthesis of proteins with a given microstmcture, and contribution to the funaion of memory. Less known TA (mainly polyphosphates of glycerol or ribitol) with molar mass up to 2.5 x 10 are present in cell walls in Gram-positive baaeria. The main function of TAs is to provide... 

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