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Updated: Jan 17, 2026

Light-driven Enzymatic Decarboxylation
Published on: May 22, 2016
Direct and affordable alcohol phosphorylation through ambient electrochemical oxidation of phosphorous acid
Cham Wah Cheung1, Edmund C M Tse1
1Department of Chemistry, HKU-CAS Joint Laboratory on New Materials, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. ecmtse@hku.hk.
Abstract:
Alcohol phosphorylation is a key reaction for producing phosphate monoester and is traditionally performed under harsh conditions using hazardous reagents. Here, we developed a one-step electrochemical alcohol phosphorylation to synthesize phosphate monoester under ambient conditions without the use of toxic oxidants. This reaction is selective towards aliphatic and benzylic alcohols instead of phenols and can be applied to straight-chain, branched, benzylic, aromatic, and cyclic alcohols.
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