The Role of the Phosphorus Atom in Drug Design

Although the phosphorus atom is found in a variety of oxidation states, most of the phosphorus-containing molecules of pharmacological importance possess phosphorus in the form of phosphonate or phosphinate functional groups, or in a major oxidation state as a phosphate group. The most common occurrence of phosphorus in drugs is either in prodrugs or in compounds for which the phosphorus atom plays a role in the biological activity, such as in modified nucleotides, in metabolically stable analogues of metabolites bearing phosphate groups, and as bioisosteric analogues of carboxyl groups.