Nature Communications (Sep 2021)

The chemistry of branched condensed phosphates

  • Tobias Dürr-Mayer,
  • Danye Qiu,
  • Verena B. Eisenbeis,
  • Nicole Steck,
  • Markus Häner,
  • Alexandre Hofer,
  • Andreas Mayer,
  • Jay S. Siegel,
  • Kim K. Baldridge,
  • Henning J. Jessen

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25668-3
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 11

Abstract

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The “anti-branching rule”, introduced in 1950, excludes branched polyphosphates from biological relevance due to their supposedly rapid hydrolysis. Here, the authors synthesize monodisperse branched polyphosphates and demonstrate their unexpected stability in water, as well as provide evidence for their competence in phosphorylation.