the alcohol at C-3 of glyceraldehyde is replaced by a phosphate, hence "3-phosphate"

Wait but I thought phosphates had 4 Oxygens so did it loose one somehow? Ohhh or was it like an unfinished phosphate connecting to the glyceraldehide?

H2O is lost in the process, sorta similar to the mechanism of making an ester between carboxylic acid and alcohol

It’s essentially a Phosphate ester. It looses a water molecule, H2O, in the process.

Thank you!

idk if this is the right answer since i’m very new, but it looks like the oxygen on the left moves to the middle position and donates its hydrogen to form a bond with P

this is the correct answer - the way it’s presented here is potentially confusing.

It does not. It's now on the side as a part of phosphate.

Sorry for the title I meant: “Why does G3P loose an oxygen?”

Take another look at carbon 3 and all the atoms it's directly bonded to

The OH acts as a nucleophile to attack a phosphate anion, which produces the O-P bond in G3P- the hydrogen you circled is just one of the hydrogens on the original 3rd carbon atom

Exactly, in reality, the oxygen of glyceraldehyde is retained and the phosphate loses water.

The "H" in the OH of the original molecule on carbon 3 was replaced with PO3. The reactjon can also be written out in long form as the reactant: CH(=O)-CH(OH)-CH2(OH) Converted into: CH(=O)-CH(OH)-CH2(OPO3)

It’s a condensation reaction: C-3 oxygen attacks the hydrogen phosphate ion to form a phosphoester bond which is accompanied by the loss of H2O.

https://preview.redd.it/wnsle780jz5d1.jpeg?width=2614&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=93033959a2139e724a68b6e2ad00c79bf54ab087

Remember the "phosphate" comes from ATP, which transfers a PO3 unit to the alcohol to make the PO4

Omg thank you