Synthetic glycerophosphates have been known for many years and have been prepared in several ways. The acid may exist in two isomeric forms, alpha and beta. The L-a-acid is the naturally occurring form; the b-acid, present in hydrolyzates of lecithins from natural sources, arises from migration of the phosphoryl group from the a-carbon atom. Dehydrogenation of L-glycerol 3-phosphate produces Dihydroxyacetone phosphate and is part of the entry of glycerol (sourced from triglycerides) into the glycolytic pathway.

Glycerin (glycerol) is 3-carbon alcohol naturally occurring in the human body. It is the structural backbone triacylglycerol molecules, and can also be converted to a glycolytic substrate for subsequent metabolism. Glycerin is a colorless, odorless, viscous, sweet-tasting liquid. The FDA classifies glycerol as "generally recognized as safe". Glycerin is used in the pharmaceutical industry as a sweetener in syrups, lozenges, and as an excipient in eyewash solutions. As an individual prescription product, glycerin has uses as a hyperosmotic, osmotic diuretic, and ophthalmic agent. It may be used as an eye drop in the treatment of glaucoma to reduce intraocular pressure, as a solution or suppository for short-term treatment of constipation, to evacuate the bowel prior to a colonoscopy, and in some ocular surgeries. It may be given intravenously to reduce pressure inside the brain and used externally on the skin as a moisturizer. Glycerin has many other uses in the agricultural, food and pharmaceutical industry.

Glyceryl 1-phosphate,(S)- or glycerol-1-phosphate is a glycerophosphate backbone of the archeal ether lipids. It results from the reduction of dihydroxyacetone phosphate using NADH (or NADPH) and divalent ions as cofactors. Two different enzymes carry out the condensation of the isoprenoid chains to the glycerophosphate backbone in archea. The first ether linkage that brings together glycerol-1-phosphate and geranylgeranyl diphosphate is catalyzed by a cytoplasmic protein geranylgeranylglyceryl diphosphate (GGGP) synthase.

Sodium glycerol 2-phosphate (Disodium beta-glycerophosphate) is used for the preparation of thermo-sensitive chitosan hydrogen as a scaffold to construct tissue engineered injectable nucleus pulposus (NP). Since Sodium glycerol 2-phosphate (6 g/day) reduced the lithogenic index of bile in human subjects with cholesterol gallstones in a short-term study and facilitated dissolution of cholesterol gallstones in mice, Sodium glycerol 2-phosphate may have potential to help dissolve cholesterol gallstones in man. Sodium glycerol 2-phosphate is an alkaline phosphate inhibitor. Sodium β-glycerophosphate pentahydrate is used as a phosphatase inhibitor. It promotes bone matrix mineralization while delivering to osteoblasts by providing a source of phosphate ions. It is used in the development of hydrogels and scaffolds, which finds applications in tissue engineering and cell growth. It is used as an additive in isolation mediums by providing phosphate ions to isolate. It is utilized to promote mineralization in vitro by modulating bone cell metabolic activity.

Sodium phenylbutyrate is a salt of an aromatic fatty acid. The compound is used to treat urea cycle disorders, because its metabolites offer an alternative pathway to the urea cycle to allow excretion of excess nitrogen. Sodium phenylbutyrate is also a histone deacetylase inhibitor and chemical chaperone, leading respectively to research into its use as an anti-cancer agent and in protein misfolding diseases such as cystic fibrosis. It is used as adjunctive therapy for the management of chronic urea cycle disorders due to deficiencies in carbamylphosphate (CPS), ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC), or argininosuccinic acid synthetase. It is indicated in all neonatal- onset efficiency presenting within the first 28 days of life. Also indicated in patients with late-onset, presenting after the first month of life with a history of hyperammonemic encephalopathy. Sodium phenylbutyrate is a pro-drug and is rapidly metabolized to phenylacetate. Phenylacetate is a metabolically active compound that conjugates with glutamine via acetylation to form phenylacetylglutamine. The kidneys then excrete Phenylacetylglutamine. PBA (phenylbutyric acid) is absorbed from the intestine and converted by way of β-oxidation to the active moiety, phenylacetic acid (PAA). PAA is conjugated with glutamine in the liver and kidney by way of N-acyl coenzyme A-l-glutamine N-acyltransferase to form phenylacetylglutamine (PAGN). Like urea, PAGN incorporates two waste nitrogens and is excreted in the urine. On a molar basis, it is comparable to urea (each containing two moles of nitrogen). Therefore, phenylacetylglutamine provides an alternate vehicle for waste nitrogen excretion.