A new method for the phosphorylation of nucleosides

A new phosphorylating reagent, 2-O-(4,4′-dimethoxytrityl)ethylsulfonylethan-2′-yl-phosphate (1), was developed for the phosphorylation of primary and secondary alcohols of nucleosides. In the many examples studied, yields in the phosphorylation step were excellent (∼80 to 95%). There is potential for wide applicability of this procedure, not only in nucleoside and nucleotide chemistry, but also in the phosphorylation of biomolecules such as carbohydrates and amino acids.