Versatile coordination chemistry of the phosphonoformate anion

Abstract

Phosphonoformate – the simplest member of the group of phosphono-carboxylic-acids containing a phosphonic as well as a directly bonded carboxylic moiety - can be regarded as a structural mimic of the pyrophosphate anion, a very important building block in biochemistry involved in processes of energy transfer as well as in growth of DNA or RNA strands. This derivative selectively inhibits the pyrophosphate binding side on viral polymerases, which qualifies the title compound as an antiviral medication used in the treatment of herpes viruses including drug-resistant cytomegaloviruses and as part of salvage therapy for highly treatment-experienced patients infected with HIV. Surprisingly only the crystal structure of the widely used trisodium salt is reported in the literature, whereas the coordination behavior towards other (earth) alkaline as well as transition metals is still unexplored. First insights into this field are reported in this work.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Coordination chemistry
• Foscarnet
• phosphonate
• phosphono-carboxylic acid
• phosphonoformate
• single crystal Xray diffraction

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.