Alkyl phosphates belong to a group of organic compounds called organophosphates.
Alkyl phosphates are widely distributed in nature, and form the basis of most biological processes.
For example, high energy metabolites such as ATP and PEP are alkyl phosphates, as are nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA.
Alkyl phosphates are also important medicinally, for example the HIV drug AZT is inactive until it becomes an alkyl phosphate in vivo.
[2] Exposure to dialkyl phosphate during pregnancy appears to increase the risk of ADHD.