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AAT Bioquest

Does ATP or ADP store more energy?

Posted August 5, 2021


Answer

ATP (adenosine triphosphate) stores more energy than ADP (adenosine diphosphate).

ATP has three phosphate groups with high energy bonds located between each group.

ADP has only two phosphate groups. ADP also has high energy bonds located between each group.

The presence of the third phosphate group and the additional high-energy bond between the second and third phosphate group in ATP enables it to store more energy than ADP, which does not have that third high-energy bond.

Additional resources

Coupling mechanisms in ATP synthesis: Rejoinder to “Response to molecular-level understanding of biological energy coupling and transduction”

PhosphoWorks™ Colorimetric ATP Assay Kit