Glycerol 3-phosphate (C3H9O6P): structure, properties and hazards

Names and identifiers

IUPAC name: [(2R)-2,3-dihydroxypropyl] dihydrogen phosphate
Synonyms: G3P, alpha-glycerophosphate, sn-Glycerol 3-phosphate
+ 38 more
D-Glycerol 1-phosphate, (R)-glycerol 1-phosphate, Glyceryl 1-phosphate, (R)-, Glycerol, 1-(dihydrogen phosphate), d-, 370V52HE4B, D-(glycerol 1-phosphate), L-(glycerol 3-phosphate), 1,2,3-Propanetriol, 1-(dihydrogen phosphate), (R)-, 1,2,3-Propanetriol, 1-(dihydrogen phosphate), (2R)-, DTXSID5048346, CHEBI:15978, phosphoric acid mono-((R)-2,3-dihydroxy-propyl) ester, RefChem:886478, GlyTouCan:G89289AE, DTXCID0028321, G89289AE, sn-glycerol-3-phosphate, sn-Glycero-3-phosphate, [(2R)-2,3-dihydroxypropyl] dihydrogen phosphate, [(2R)-2,3-dihydroxypropoxy]phosphonic acid, [R,(-)]-1-O-Phosphono-D-glycerol, UNII-370V52HE4B, Glycerol monophosphate, (2R)-2,3-dihydroxypropyl dihydrogen phosphate, glycerol-3-phosphate, (R)-2,3-Dihydroxypropyl dihydrogen phosphate, Glyceryl phosphate, Glycerophosphoric acid I, C3H9O6P, a-Phosphoglycerol, Glycerophosphorate, a-Glycerophosphate, a-Glycerophosphorate, 1-Glycerophosphorate, Glycerol a-phosphate, DL-a-Glycerophosphate, alpha-Glycerophosphorate, DL-a-Glycerophosphorate
Molecular formula: C₃H₉O₆P
Empirical formula: C₃H₉O₆P
Molecular weight: 172.07 g/mol
Exact mass: 172.01368
CAS number: 57-03-4
PubChem CID: 439162
Canonical SMILES: C(C(COP(=O)(O)O)O)O
Isomeric SMILES: C([C@H](COP(=O)(O)O)O)O
InChI: InChI=1S/C3H9O6P/c4-1-3(5)2-9-10(6,7)8/h3-5H,1-2H2,(H2,6,7,8)/t3-/m1/s1
InChIKey: AWUCVROLDVIAJX-GSVOUGTGSA-N
Molfile

Names, InChI and the identifiers from PubChem, retrieved 2026-10-14.

Calculated

Heavy atoms: 10
Rings: 0
Aromatic rings: 0
Fraction sp³ carbons (Fsp3): 1
H-bond donors: 4
H-bond acceptors: 4 computed here · PubChem 6
Rotatable bonds: 4
TPSA (Å²): 107.2 computed here · PubChem 107
Formal charge: 0
XLogP3: -2.9 PubChem
Complexity: 129 PubChem
Stereocenters: 1 definedCIP: C3: R
Double-bond geometry: None specified
Point group: C1 of one 3D conformer with its hydrogens, by Athanor’s engine (as in the app)

Elemental analysis

C20.94%
H5.27%
O55.79%
P18.00%

Isotope pattern

Each peak is a nominal mass with its abundance-weighted exact mass, as a percentage of the tallest, from IUPAC natural isotope abundances.

Computed from the structure with RDKit 2026.09 when this page was built, beside PubChem's own computed values from its record; where the two differ, both are shown.

Predicted

log P: -1.55 Crippen (Wildman and Crippen 1999)
log S (water solubility): 0.33 ESOL (Delaney 2004), log mol/L
Synthetic accessibility: 3.16 SA score, 1 easy to 10 hard (Ertl and Schuffenhauer 2009)

Drug-likeness: Lipinski’s rule of five

Molecular weight ≤ 500: 172.07
log P ≤ 5 (Crippen): -1.55
H-bond donors ≤ 5: 4
H-bond acceptors ≤ 10: 4

Passes all four rules.

¹³C NMR shifts, predicted

Predictions, not measurements; each names its method. A measured log P, where a source reports one, is under Physical properties.

Safety

No GHS hazard classification was found in the sources.

Safety data sheets on the supplier’s page: A2B Chem, TargetMol, DempoChem.

Always read the supplier’s safety data sheet before working with it.

Spectra

Experimental spectra held by these sources; each link opens the source's own record.

Literature

Reading PubChem, OpenAlex and GSRS…

Bioactivity

Reading ChEMBL…

References

[1]Human Metabolome Database (HMDB) · Linked only · via PubChem · retrieved 2026-10-14
[2]MassBank of North America (MoNA) · CC BY 4.0 · via PubChem · retrieved 2026-10-14
[3]MassBank Europe · Linked only · via PubChem · retrieved 2026-10-14
·Calculated values: computed by Athanor with RDKit 2026.09 from the structure.
·Literature on PubChem

Data last updated 2026-10-14.

Similar structures

Tanimoto similarity on Morgan fingerprints (radius 2) with RDKit 2026.09, at least 45%.