Why Nature Chose Acyl Phosphates

The research of Aduc prize winner Charalampos (Babis) Pappas focuses on systems chemistry: his group demonstrates how aminoacyl phosphates drive peptide self-assembly, compartmentalization, and dynamic reaction cycles in water.

Phosphate groups are among the most fundamental functional motifs in biology. They store and transfer chemical energy, regulate signaling pathways and encode genetic information. In his influential essay “Why Nature Chose Phosphates“, Frank Westheimer¹⁾ argued that the widespread use of phosphates in biology reflects a remarkable balance between stability in water and controlled reactivity. This balance is exemplified by adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the central energy carrier of metabolism. In humans, ATP is synthesized and consumed at a rate approaching an entire body weight per day. The energetic coupling of the hydrolysis of phosphate anhydride bonds to cellular transformations is a determining characteristic of living systems. In many biosynthetic pathways, ATP is first converted into acyl phosphates, most prominently aminoacyl adenylates, to activate carboxylic acids.²⁾ These intermediates enable selective acyl transfer reaction

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