Nuclear magnetic resonance-based quantification of organic diphosphates

Phosphorylated compounds are ubiquitous in life. Given their central role, many such substrates and analogs have been prepared for subsequent evaluation. Prior to biological experiments, it is typically necessary to determine the concentration of the target molecule in solution. Here we describe a method where concentrations of stock solutions of organic diphosphates and bisphosphonates are quantified using 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy with standard instrumentation using a capillary tube with a secondary standard. The method is specific and is applicable down to a concentration of 200 μM. The capillary tube provides the reference peak for quantification and deuterated solvent for locking.