Talk:Organophosphate

message: I have removed some rather biased matter which is not in agreement with the majority of scientists. It was about BSE, I suggest that until the editors who added the comments can offer up some evidence to support their 
I quote
'An organic farmer, Mark Purdy discovered that BSE and type-3 CJD is caused not by a new form of infection called a prion but is caused by poisoning by organo-phosphate fertilisers.
{{DiseaseDisorder infobox | '
See  for a counterblast aginst this point of view
Cadmium 20:19, 9 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: That is not completely true. If a point-of-view is unsupported by outside evidence (WP:NOR, WP:V, WP:CITE) or held by a very small minority (WP:NPOVUW) then it would be allright to not bring this point of view. Please provide evidence, then disagree on policy. JFW | T@lk 17:43, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

text: Where's your source, mate? JFW | T@lk 23:09, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

text: "Additional", eh? But I think a report in Med Hypoth should be linked as an academic reference. I think it may be notable enough for mention, unless Cadmium disagrees. JFW | T@lk 13:51, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

text: I don't think the Phillips enquiry cite lends credence to, nor refutes Purdey's theory. I'm leaving it out for now. JFW | T@lk 13:59, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

text: Now of course you pushed the Purdey view. If you hadn't been there to push it would not have been here. The fact that the EU science committee bothered to address this issue is enough for me to show that there is at least an element of notability. With both views represented we have now arrived at WP:NPOV. I think. JFW | T@lk 16:22, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Untitled

message: It would be good if the use of Organophosphate as raticide were cited.
Leo McAllister 16:38, 26 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Poison 

message: Isn'd DNA an organophosphate, based on the definition given in this alarmist article?  And solvents like trimethylphosphate?  And lots of biosynthetic intermediates?--Smokefoot 03:15, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: yeah that's kind of a good point.  i think most pharmacologists know what you're talking about when you say organophosphate, but you're right, lots of harmless biomolecules are technically OPs.  this article is really about OP toxins/pesticides which are really a pretty small (but well-characterized/studied) family of molecules. anyone have suggestions for a more precise definition? Roadnottaken 18:34, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I think the article should define organophosphates broadly: OP(OR)3, and then note that while the definition technically includes biomolecules like DNA (although the phosphate group in DNA only has 2 OR groups, not 3) the term is used almost exclusively to refer to pesticides, nerve toxins, and related chemicals, including small molecules in which one or more oxygens has been replaced by sulfurs. Note that molecules such as glyphosate which have an O=P-OR linkage but also possess an unesterified hydroxyl group on the same O=P are not generally refered to as organophosphates. Yilloslime 18:47, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

text: You are probably correct - the definitions are vague and confusing (A related argument hovers over the definition of organometallic compounds as you allude to, some consider titanium isopropoxide organometallic whereas hard-core organametallickers typically use the term "metallo-organic").  I get the sense that the present article started as a review of sarin and related organophosphorus compounds by the hands of well-intentioned editors who are unfamiliar with phosphorus chemistry.  So, I figured if we are going to be vague and focus on the bad stuff, we should be vague and focus on the good stuff too.  It is useful or instructive for readers to see that closely related compounds are good and bad, depending on the application and the specific substituents. Regardless: DNA and RNA are pretty clearly polyesters of phosphoric acid.  I have no sense of ownership so feel free to edit away.  --Smokefoot 12:46, 24 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Things like Sarin, VX, and the whole V-series of nerve agents are actually organophosphonates and thiophosphonates, not organophosphates because of the above-mentioned P-C bond.  (See organophosphorus compounds.)  Other toxins, like chlorpyrifos is a thiophosphate.  I suspect that the P-C or P=S bonds lend the reactivity to these compounds that make them so toxic.  Could we get a chemist to weigh-in on this?  I don't think the article is alarmist but it may be mis-titled.  An article about all compounds containing carbon and phosphorous is ridiculously broad so perhaps this article just needs to be re-labled... Roadnottaken 16:08, 24 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I am a chemist. As I said before, though perphaps not clearly, there is more than one way of defining the term. Technically according to IUPAC, etc, only triesters of phosphoric acid are organophosphates. But practically, the term is harderly ever--if at all--applied to DNA and other biomolecules, and while at the same time it is applied to pesticides and related compounds that are not strictly of the formula OP(OR)3. For example, the EPA and everyone else refers to chlorpyrifos, diazinon, and even pesticides with O=P-C connectivity as "organophophates," even though these compounds are more properly classified as phosphorothioates, thiophosphates, phosphonates, or some other more specific term. I think the article should definitely address both "POVs," but I'd argue that for most people coming to wikipedia to find out what the heck an organophosphate is, the "common usage" definition is going to be much more informative. After all, if you google or news.google the term "organophosphate," all your top hits relate to pesticides and/or toxicity. Yilloslime 17:04, 24 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I haven't been able to find any IUPAC definition for organophosphate. In organic nomenclature, the esters of phosphoric acid would be called "phosphates". Organophosphates is a common name for a class of molecules that are not really phosphates, but such is life. ;-) --Itub 16:01, 26 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: The article is too vague and too scare-mongering

message: Organophosphates are no longer used by the pest control industry. In fact the 
best product on the market for ant control (Termidor) is less toxic in it's mixed 
form than table salt.
68.7.195.20 (talk) 05:20, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Organophosphates Banned 

message: Should sugar phosphates be included in this article? Albmont (talk) 13:13, 12 December 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sugar Phosphates? 

message: Organophosphates ARE NOT organophosphorus compounds as they do not contain any carbon-phosphorus bond.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.205.45.223 (talk) 07:24, 25 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Organophosphates error 

message: Sorry, I don't have time to update the article, but here is one story on the results of the study.  There are a lot more out there published today.  --ChrisRuvolo (t) 21:58, 21 April 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  New study results on pre-natal exposure 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to  on Organophosphate. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add  after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add  to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/20110307234024/http://www.epa.gov:80/opp00001/health/mosquitoes/malathion4mosquitoes.htm to http://www.epa.gov/opp00001/health/mosquitoes/malathion4mosquitoes.htm#malathion
When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.
Cheers.—cyberbot IITalk to my owner:Online 19:38, 8 January 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  External links modified 

message: To potentially cite: 
* http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0161813X13001514
-- phoebe / (talk to me) 14:49, 19 March 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Citations

message: The article states that thiophosphoryl esters with the P=S moiety do not inhibit AChE & are not used as insecticides. But the diazinon article identifies it as a thiophosphoryl ester with the =S & it is used as an insecticide. Can anyone clarify? --D Anthony Patriarche (talk) 23:50, 30 May 2019 (UTC)
replies: text: I am going to remove that entire section. It's been nearly a year since the above post and no one has cared enough to add any citations or justifications to the almost useless claim that thiophosphoryl cmpds are less toxic than "similar" phosphoryl ones. Parathion is extremely toxic to humans and is a thiophosphoryl triester (but admitedly, I've no idea what the toxicity is of the **analogous** phosphate triester).174.130.70.61 (talk) 19:41, 29 April 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Read parathion more carefully.... Simon de Danser (talk) 05:25, 16 May 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Terminal oxygen vs. terminal sulfur 

message: The article currently states that these compounds can be made via the direct esterification of phosphoric acid:
:
:
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Seems straightforward enough - but why can I not find a single reference for this reaction? Frustratingly, I also can't find any which state that it's impossible. At a guess, phosphoric acid dehydrates into anhydrides like pyrophosphoric acid much more readily that carboxylic acids do, which might make the process too difficult to bother with? Project Osprey (talk) 15:20, 7 February 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Synthesis via the esterification of phosphoric acid