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KINETICS OF THE HYDROLYSIS AND ALCOHOLYSIS OF TETRAPOLYPHOSPHATEESTERS ('ETHYLMETAPHOSPHATE')

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/932535· OSTI ID:932535

'Ethyl metaphosphate' or tetrapolyphosphate esters are a potentially useful starting material for the preparation of polynucleotides. The kinetics of the reactions of the esters with excess water and ethanol have been measured by means of p{sup 31} n.m.r. and IR spectroscopy. Upon the addition of specific amounts of water or ethanol, substances could be prepared which consist mainly of linear tetrapoly-, tripoly- or pyrophosphate esters containing smeller amounts of other polyphosphates and orthophosphates in an equilibrium composition. Diethyl hydrogen orthophosphate reacts with cyclic polyphosphate esters to open the ring; with linear esters it reacts to form polyphosphates with a lesser degree of condensation. This latter reaction also proceeds to an equilibrium. No reactions between linear and cyclic polyphosphate esters were observed at room temperature, which implies that the rates of the disproportionation of the linear polyphosphate esters were low. Some organic solvents previously employed for the dehydrating polymerization of sugars, amino acids or nucleotides destroy the tetrapolyphosphate esters. The various substances now available from tetrapolyphosphate esters by the action of water or reactive solvents will differ in their capabilities of producing the dehydrating polymerization reaction. Thus, one may expect that very different products might result from very small differences in reaction conditions.

Research Organization:
Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA (US)
Sponsoring Organization:
USAEC
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48; AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
932535
Report Number(s):
UCRL--11994
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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