Enhancing Prebiotic Phosphorylation and Modulating the Regioselectivity of Nucleosides with Diamidophosphate

Among the many prebiotic phosphorylation chemistries investigated, diamidophosphate (DAP) has shown promising potential for nucleoside phosphorylation. Herein, we show that DAP’s phosphorylation capability is enhanced significantly (up to 90%) in wet–dry cycles by a range of prebiotically plausible pHs (6–10) and temperatures (up to 80 °C) in the presence of additives such as formamide, cyanamide, urea, guanidine, 2-aminoimidazole, and hydantoin. For ribonucleosides, the main products are the 2′,3′-cyclic phosphates along with the corresponding 2′- and 3′-phosphates, while deoxyribonucleosides form 5′- and 3′-phosphates, the ratios of which are affected by cycles and the presence and nature of the additives. A simple change of temperature to 80 °C with additives leads to higher conversion yields (≈80–90%) with an increased level of 5′-phosphorylation (≈40–49%). This demonstration of enhancing and controlling the regioselectivity of DAP-mediated phosphorylation by a range of additives and conditions potentiates transitioning to the search for more efficient catalysts, enabling regiospecific phosphorylations and oligonucleotide formation in the same milieu and setting.