PHOSPHORYLATION OF GLYCERIC ACID IN AQUEOUS-SOLUTION USING TRIMETAPHOSPHATE

The phosphorylation of glyceric acid is an interesting prebiotic react ion because it converts a simple, potentially prebiotic organic molecu le into phosphate derivatives that are central to carbohydrate metabol ism. We find that 0.05 M glyceric acid in the presence of 0.5 M trimet aphosphate in alkaline solution gives a mixture of 2- and 3-phosphogly ceric acids in combined yields of up to 40%.