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Simple aliphatic alcohols, deoxynucleosides and nucleosides undergo reaction with formamide yielding formate esters. Formate ester formation was observed to occur slowly at 100°C and more rapidly at 130°C. As expected, formate esters were hydrolyzed to the alcohol and formic acid upon heating in aqueous solution. It was proposed to study the possibility that formate esters are formed initially in amide solvents, followed by displacement of formate by dihydrogen phosphate ion to form monophosphate esters. Experiments are described which demonstrate the formation and hydrolysis of formate esters, as well as their lack of reaction with hydrogen phosphate ion. Formate esters are not intermediates in the phosphorylation of nucleosides in formamide. Their formation has been observed and such an esterification is a side reaction during the phosphorylation of nucleosides in formamide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An objective of this work is to elucidate the mechanism of phosphorylation of nucleosides in amide solvents and in urea. A second objective is to assess the importance of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of nucleotide derivatives in amide environments. Although the most complex amide studied here was N-methylacetamide, inferences are made on the importance of dephosphorylation for nucleotides in oligopeptide environments. Phosphorylations in amide solvents and in urea are suggested to proceed through monomeric metaphosphate, which was first postulated as a reaction intermediate thirty years ago (Butcher and Westheimer, 1955). Phosphorylation of nucleosides and nucleotides and dephosphorylation of nucleotide derivatives have been studied in formamide, N-methylformamide, urea and N-methylacetamide. Hydrated forms of 5′-ADP and 5′ATP are unstable in hot amide solvents and in urea. They decompose to a mixture of adenosine and its phosphorylated derivatives. The rate of decomposition is much slower in N-methylacetamide than in formamide or urea. Experiments designed to prepare oligonucleotides in the presence of oligopeptides have been reported (White, 1983). According to the present study, it is not unreasonable to expect that nucleotide derivatives can be condensed with nucleosides to form oligonucleotides in a peptide environment. However, nucleotide monomers such as 5′-ATP, 5′-ADP or 5′AMP will suffer isomerization or decomposition during condensation use of activated phosphate derivatives is preferable. Monomeric metaphosphate has not been isolated or characterized in amide solvents. It is proposed here as a reaction intermediate, probably in a complexed form with the amide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]