Phosphoryl

{{unreferenced, date=May 2015 Phosphoryl-group-and-phosphate-group

A phosphoryl group is the chemical ion or radical: P⁺O₃²⁻, containing

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ea ...

and

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as we ...

. (The correct chemical name for this −PO₃²⁻ group is phosphonato, and phosphono for −PO₃H₂; as ''phosphoryl'' in chemical nomenclature means a trivalent > P(O)− group.) It may exist in different

protonation In chemistry, protonation (or hydronation) is the adding of a proton (or hydron, or hydrogen cation), (H+) to an atom, molecule, or ion, forming a conjugate acid. (The complementary process, when a proton is removed from a Brønsted–Lowry acid ...

states. The term is usually used to refer to compounds in which the phosphoryl group is attached to other atoms, e.g.

phosphoryl chloride Phosphoryl chloride (commonly called phosphorus oxychloride) is a colourless liquid with the formula . It hydrolyses in moist air releasing phosphoric acid and fumes of hydrogen chloride. It is manufactured industrially on a large scale from phosp ...

, or in the description of catalytic mechanisms (see:

phosphorylation In chemistry, phosphorylation is the attachment of a phosphate group to a molecule or an ion. This process and its inverse, dephosphorylation, are common in biology and could be driven by natural selection. Text was copied from this source, ...

). In biochemical reactions involving phosphates (e.g.

adenosine triphosphate Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is an organic compound that provides energy to drive many processes in living cells, such as muscle contraction, nerve impulse propagation, condensate dissolution, and chemical synthesis. Found in all known forms ...

), a phosphoryl group is usually transferred between the substrates (phosphoryl transfer reactions). A phosphoryl group should not be confused with a

phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...

group. The phosphoryl group plays the central role in

. Phosphorus compounds Functional groups