Versatile reagents to introduce caged phosphates

Three novel reagents have been prepared to introduce photoactivatable o-nitrobenzyl phosphate esters. The use of fluorenylmethyl and t-butyl protecting groups allowed for a wide range of chemical transformations after phosphorylation. In addition, the use of S-acetylthioethyl and acyloxymethyl groups resulted in photo- and bioactivatable phosphate triesters of phosphatidic acid.