Compounds with high phosphoryl-transfer potential. The role of ATP as the cellular energy currency is illustrated by its relation to other phosphorylated compounds. ATP has a phosphoryl-transfer potential that is intermediate among the biologically important phosphorylated molecules. High-phosphoryl-transfer-potential compounds (1,3-BPG, PEP, and creatine phosphate) derived from the metabolism of fuel molecules are used to power ATP synthesis. In turn, ATP donates a phosphoryl group to other biomolecules to facilitate their metabolism.

[Data from D. L. Nelson and M. M. Cox, Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry, 5th ed. (W. H. Freeman and Company, 2009), Fig. 13-19.]