Abstract
OUR earlier work on the chemical action of X-rays on the nucleic acids in aqueous systems1 has led us to suggest that labile compounds, including labile phosphate esters, are formed on irradiation, and that these may play some part in the breakdown of the polynucleotides. Following some observations on the effects of the radiation on relatively simple phosphate esters (for example, glycerophosphates, phosphoglyceric acid), we have suggested that, in general, Oxidative attack at a > CH(OH) (secondary alcohol) group by the free radicals can lead to the formation of a > C=O (carbonyl) group, and that, if the latter is α- or β- to a phosphate group, a more or less labile ester is produced2.
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SCHOLES, G., WEISS, J. Formation of Acetyl Phosphate by the Action of X-Rays on Monoethyl Phosphoric Acid in Aqueous Solution. Nature 173, 267 (1954). https://doi.org/10.1038/173267a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/173267a0
