1phosphate

1-phosphate denotes a phosphate ester bonded to the first carbon of a molecule. This position is especially significant for sugars, where phosphorylation at the anomeric carbon yields sugar-1-phosphates such as glucose-1-phosphate and ribose-1-phosphate. It also appears in the context of archaeal lipids, where glycerol-1-phosphate constitutes the glycerol backbone of certain ether lipids.

Common examples illustrate the biological roles of these compounds. Glucose-1-phosphate is an intermediate in carbohydrate metabolism; it can be formed by the phosphorolysis of glycogen or starch or by isomerization with glucose-6-phosphate. It serves as a precursor to UDP-glucose, which is used for glycogen and polysaccharide synthesis, and can be converted to glucose-6-phosphate via phosphoglucomutase. Ribose-1-phosphate is produced by phosphorolysis of ribonucleosides and can be converted to ribose-5-phosphate by phosphopentomutase, feeding the pentose phosphate pathway and nucleotide synthesis.

Glycerol-1-phosphate has particular relevance to archaeal biology, providing the glycerol backbone for certain ether lipids distinct from the bacterial/eukaryotic lipids that use glycerol-3-phosphate. In chemical terms, 1-phosphate indicates a phosphate ester attached to carbon 1 of the parent molecule; it is distinct from the 5'-phosphate found in nucleotides, where the phosphate is bound to the 5' carbon of ribose. The chemistry of these species involves formation and cleavage of phosphate esters and various phosphoryl transfer reactions.