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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Nucleoside Triphosphates - From Synthesis to Biochemical Characterization
Published on: April 3, 2014
Thermal synthesis of nucleoside H-phosphonates under mild conditions
R M De Graaf1, Alan W Schwartz
1Evolutionary Biology Research Group, Faculty of Science, University of Nijmegen, 6500 GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Nucleosides react rapidly with ammonium phosphite ((NH4)2HPO3) at 60 degrees C to produce good yields of nucleoside-5'-phosphite monoesters within 24 h. Under the same conditions, ammonium phosphate is unreactive, producing low yields of nucleotide only after extended reactions. These results confirm earlier suggestions that nucleoside H-phosphonates and their possible condensation products may have been produced on the primitive earth more easily than nucleotides.
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