Glycerophospholipids are major components of cellular membranes and provide important signaling molecules. Besides shaping membrane properties, some bind to specific receptors to activate biological pathways. Untangling the roles of individual glycerophospholipids requires clearly defined molecular species, a challenge that can be best addressed through chemical synthesis. However, glycerophospholipid syntheses are often lengthy due to the contrasting polarities found within these lipids. We now report a general strategy to quickly access glycerophospholipids via opening of a phosphate triester epoxide with carboxylic acids catalyzed by Jacobsen’s Co(salen) complex. We show that this method can be applied to a variety of commercially available fatty acids, photoswitchable fatty acids, and other carboxylic acids to provide the corresponding glycerophosphate derivatives.

中文翻译：

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甘油磷脂的简明合成

甘油磷脂是细胞膜的主要成分，并提供重要的信号分子。除了塑造膜特性外，有些还与特定受体结合以激活生物途径。阐明单个甘油磷脂的作用需要明确定义的分子种类，这一挑战最好通过化学合成来解决。然而，由于这些脂质中存在相反的极性，甘油磷脂的合成通常很漫长。我们现在报告了一种通过雅各布森 Co(salen) 络合物催化的羧酸与磷酸三酯环氧化物的打开来快速获得甘油磷脂的一般策略。我们表明，该方法可以应用于多种市售脂肪酸、光可切换脂肪酸和其他羧酸，以提供相应的甘油磷酸衍生物。