Electrophoresis Buffers

Bicine is a buffering agent used in biochemistry and molecular biology that was selected and described by Good et al. It is a zwitterionic, bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amine buffer that is useful for a pH range of 7.6 – 9.0. It is commonly used in protein crystallization, in the study of enzymatic reactions, and for electrophoresis. It is used in thin layer ion exchange chromatography for protein resolution, as well as a multiphasic buffer system for SDS-PAGE of proteins. It is soluble in water at 0°C up to 1.1 M. Bicine forms a complex with most common metals so stability constants and concentrations should be taken into consideration when choosing this buffer.

Product Specifications
Bicine;
N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)glycine;
di(hydroxyethyl)glycine;
N,N- bis(hydroxyethyl)aminoacetic acid

ULTRA PURE GRADE

Formula: C₆H₁₃NO₄

MW: 163.17 g/mol

PubChem Chemical ID: 8761

Storage/Handling: Store at room temperature.

Bis-Tris, also known as bis-Tris methane, is a zwitterionic buffering agent used in biochemistry and molecular biology. It is a bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amine and Tris family buffer that is useful for a pH range of 5.8 – 7.2. Bis Tris is a common component of many buffer systems for various types of electrophoresis. Bis-Tris may form a complex with some common metals, such as Cu(II) and Pb(II), and formation constants should be taken into account when using this buffer in a solution containing metal ions. Bis-Tris can be used as a substitute for the highly toxic buffer cacodylate.

Product Specifications
Bis-Tris, Ultra Pure
Bis-(2-Hydroxyethyl) Amino-Tris(Hydroxymethyl) Methane

Formula: C₈H₁₉NO₅

MW: 209.24 g/mol

Storage/Handling: Keep in a dry and in a well-ventilated place.

PubChem Chemical ID: 81462

Boric acid is commonly used for the preparation of buffers such as Tris-Borate-EDTA (TBE). Borate buffers have been used in capillary and gel electrophoresis for separating proteins and nucleic acids. The useful buffering range of boric acid is pH 8.2-10.1. In a basic solution, the salt of boric acid forms complex equilibria, with the tetraborate ion (B ₄O₇^2-) being the most predominant species present. Boric acid is used in catalytic amounts to promote amidation between carboxylic acids and amines. It is capable of forming a complex with various carbohydrates, as well as with pyridine nucleotides, such as NAD⁺.

Product Specifications
Boric Acid

Formula: H₃BO₃

MW: 61.83 g/mol

Storage/Handling: Store at room temperature.
This product is moisture sensitive.

PubChem Chemical ID: 7628

CAPS is a zwitterionic buffering agent used in biochemistry and molecular biology. It is a cyclohexylamine buffer that is useful for a pH range of 9.7 – 11.1 and commonly used to study enzymatic processes above physiological pH. CAPS is an excellent buffer for the transfer of high molecular weight proteins to nitrocellulose membranes after SDS-PAGE. It is also used in protein sequencing. CAPS displays only weak or negligible complexation capabilities for some metals making it a suitable non-coordinating buffer for use in solutions containing metal ions. CAPS is suitable for use with the bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay.

Product Specifications
CAPS
3-(cyclohexylamino)-1-propane-sulfonic acid

Formula: C₉H₁₉NO₃S

MW: 221.32 g/mol

Storage/Handling: Store in a dry and well-ventilated place.

PubChem Chemical ID: 70815

EDTA (Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) is a chelating agent, a general chemical and a sequestrant. In molecular biology applications, it is used to minimize metal ion contamination and prevent enzymatic activity.

EDTA disodium is routinely used in electrophoresis DNA and protein separation applications to chelate metal ions required for enzymatic activity that could potentially damage DNA and protein structure.

Product Specifications
EDTA Disodium, Dihydrate
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY GRADE

Formula: C₁₀H₁₄N₂Na₂O₈ ∙ 2H₂O

MW: 372.24 g/mol

Storage/Handling: Store in a dry and well-ventilated place.

PubChem Chemical ID: 636371

Ethyleneglycol bis(2-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N’,N’ tetraacetic acid, (EGTA) is a calcium specific chelator. Because of its low affinity for Mg⁺, EGTA inhibits metalloproteases.

Product Specifications
EGTA
Ethyleneglycol bis(2-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N’,N’ tetraacetic acid

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY GRADE

Formula: C₁₄H₂₄N₂O₁₀

MW: 380.35 g/mol

Storage/Handling: Keep in a dry and well-ventilated place.

PubChem Chemical ID: 6207

MOPS is a buffering agent used in biochemistry and molecular biology that was selected and described by Good et al. It is a zwitterionic, morpholinic buffer that is useful for a pH range of 6.5 – 7.9 and commonly used for cell culture media, as a running buffer in electrophoresis, and for protein purification in chromatography. MOPS lacks the ability to form a complex with most metal ions and is recommended for use as a non-coordinating buffer in solutions with metal ions. MOPS is often used in buffered culture media for bacteria, yeast, and mammalian cells. MOPS is regarded as an excellent buffer for use in separating RNA in agarose gels. It is recommended to sterilize MOPS buffers by filtration rather than with autoclave due to the unknown identity of yellow degradation products that occur after sterilization of MOPS with autoclave. It is suitable for use in the bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay.

MOPS free acid can be mixed with MOPS sodium salt to attain desired pH. Alternatively, MOPS free acid can be titrated with sodium hydroxide to attain desired pH.

Product Specifications
MOPS, Ultra Pure
3-(N-morpholino)propanesulfonic acid

Formula: C₇H₁₅NO₄S

MW: 209.26 g/mol

Storage/Handling: Store in a dry and well-ventilated place.

PubChem Chemical ID: 70807

MOPS sodium salt is a buffering agent used in biochemistry and molecular biology that was selected and described by Good et al. It is a zwitterionic, morpholinic buffer that is useful for a pH range of 6.5 – 7.9 and commonly used for cell culture media, as a running buffer in electrophoresis and for protein purification in chromatography. MOPS lacks the ability to form a complex with most metal ions and is recommended for use as a non-coordinating buffer in solutions with metal ions. MOPS is often used in buffered culture media for bacteria, yeast, and mammalian cells. MOPS is regarded as an excellent buffer for use in separating RNA in agarose gels. It is recommended to sterilize MOPS buffers by filtration rather than with autoclave due to the unknown identity of yellow degradation products that occur after sterilization of MOPS with autoclave. It is suitable for use in the bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay.

MOPS sodium salt can be mixed with MOPS free acid to attain desired pH. Alternatively, MOPS free acid can be titrated with sodium hydroxide to attain desired pH.

Product Specifications
MOPS, Sodium Salt
Sodium;3-(N-morpholino)propanesulfonic acid

HIGH PURITY GRADE

Formula: C₇H₁₄NO₄SNa

MW: 231.25 g/mol

Storage/Handling: Store in a dry and well-ventilated place.

PubChem Chemical ID: 3859613

PIPES is a buffering agent used in biochemistry and molecular biology that was selected and described by Good et al. It is a zwitterionic, piperazinic buffer that is useful for a pH range of 6.1 – 7.5. PIPES lacks the ability to form a significant complex with most metal ions and is recommended for use as a non-coordinating buffer in solutions with metal ions. PIPES has wide variety of applications and is commonly used in cell culture media, in protein crystallization, as a running buffer in gel electrophoresis, and as an eluent in isoelectric focusing and chromatography. This buffer is capable of forming radicals and is therefore not suitable for redox reactions. It is suitable for use in the bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay. Solubility of PIPES increases when the free acid is converted to the sodium salt.

Buffers are made by adding base solution to PIPES free acid and titrating to the desired pH.

Product Specifications
PIPES, Free Acid
2-[4-(2-sulfoethyl)piperazin-1-yl]ethanesulfonic acid

HIGH PURITY GRADE

Formula: C₈H₁₈N₂O₆S₂

MW: 302.37 g/mol

Storage/Handling: Store in a dry and well ventilated place.

PubChem Chemical ID: 79723

PIPES sesquisodium salt is a buffering agent used in biochemistry and molecular biology that was selected and described by Good et al. It is a zwitterionic, piperazinic buffer that is useful for a pH range of 6.1 – 7.5. PIPES lacks the ability to form a significant complex with most metal ions and is recommended for use as a non-coordinating buffer in solutions with metal ions. PIPES has wide variety of applications and is commonly used in cell culture media, in protein crystallization, as a running buffer in gel electrophoresis, and as an eluent in isoelectric focusing and chromatography. This buffer is capable of forming radicals and is therefore not suitable for redox reactions. It is suitable for use in the bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay.

Product Specifications
PIPES, Sodium Salt
PIPES sesquisodium salt;
Sodium;2-[4-(2-sulfoethyl)piperazin-1-yl]ethanesulfonic acid

HIGH PURITY GRADE

Formula: C₈H₁₇N₂O₆S₂ ∙ 1.5Na

MW: 335.34 g/mol

Storage/Handling: Store in a dry and well ventilated place.

PubChem Chemical ID: 3086462

TAPS is a zwitterionic buffering agent used in biochemistry and molecular biology that was selected and described by Good et al. It is part of the Tris family of buffers and is useful for a pH range of 7.7 – 9.1. TAPS is commonly used in capillary electrophoresis to analyze DNA and in planar chromatography to separate dyes. It is the preferred culture media buffer used for dinoflagellate experiments, allowing for minimal pH change and maximal growth. TAPS may form a complex with some common metals so stability constants and concentrations should be taken into account when choosing this buffer. TAPS is capable of inhibiting connexin channels in animal cells.

Product Specifications
TAPS;
N-[Tris(hydroxymethyl)methyl]-3-aminopropanesulfonic acid;

ULTRA PURE GRADE

Formula: C₇H₁₇NO₆S

MW: 243.28 g/mol

PubChem Chemical ID: 121591

Storage/Handling: Store at room temperature.

Tricine is a zwitterionic buffering agent used in biochemistry and molecular biology that was selected and described by Good et al. It is part of the Tris family of buffers with a useful pH range of 7.4 – 8.8. Tricine is commonly used in SDS-PAGE to separate peptides that are in the molecular weight range of 1 to 100 kDa. It is also used in capillary zone electrophoresis, high performance liquid chromatography and ion exchange chromatography. Tricine was determined to be the best buffer tested for use in ATP assays involving firefly luciferase. Tricine can serve as scavenger of hydroxyl radicals; this should be taken into consideration if using tricine in the presence of an enzyme with oxidase activity. Tricine forms a complex with Cu(II). The addition of Cu²⁺ to a solution enables tricine to be used in the Lowry protein assay. Tricine can be used as a substitute for protocols that utilize the controlled substance barbital as a buffer.

Product Specifications
Tricine;
N-[Tris(hydroxymethyl)methyl]glycine;

ULTRA PURE GRADE

Formula: C₆H₁₃NO₅

MW: 179.17 g/mol

PubChem Chemical ID: 79784

Storage/Handling: Store at room temperature.

GoldBio Tris has the highest purity available on the market, at more than 99.9% pure. Short for Tris (hydroxymethyl) aminomethane (THAM), Tris is an organic compound often used in buffer solutions such as TAE or TBE for electrophoresis gels. Tris is highly soluble in water and is useful in the pH range 7.0-9.0. It is used in the preparation of Laemmli buffer, one of the most common SDS-PAGE buffers. In addition, Tris can also be used for many custom running and loading buffers, most often with glycine and SDS. The use of single-junction pH electrodes that contain silver should be avoided when determining the pH of a solution containing Tris buffer.

A Tris buffer solution can be made by mixing Tris with Tris-HCl. This prevents overshooting the pH and prevents the need to work with strong acids or bases.

Product Specifications
Tris, Tris Buffer
2-Amino-2-(hydroxymethyl)-1,3-propanediol

ULTRA PURE GRADE

Formula: C₄H₁₁NO₃

MW: 121.14 g/mol

Storage/Handling: Store in a dry and well-ventilated place.

PubChem Chemical ID: 6503

Tris-acetate is the acetate salt of Tris (hydroxymethyl) aminomethane (THAM), an organic compound often used in buffer solutions for electrophoresis gels. Tris is highly soluble in water and is useful in the pH range 7.0-9.0. Tris-acetate is commonly used to prepare TAE buffer (tris-acetate-EDTA), which is used as a running buffer for both DNA agarose gels and nondenaturing RNA agarose gels. Tris-acetate was determined to be the best Tris buffer tested for use in ATP assays involving firefly luciferase. The use of single-junction pH electrodes that contain silver should be avoided when determining the pH of a solution containing Tris.

Product Specifications
Tris Acetate
acetic acid;2-amino-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol

HIGH PURITY GRADE

Formula: C₄H₁₁NO₃ · C₂H₄O₂

MW: 181.19 g/mol

Storage/Handling: Store in a dry and well-ventilated place.

PubChem Chemical ID: 16218782

Short for Tris (hydroxymethyl) aminomethane (THAM) hydrochloride, Tris HCl is an organic compound often used in buffer solutions such as TAE or TBE for electrophoresis gels. Tris is highly soluble in water and is useful in the pH range 7.0-9.0. It is used in the preparation of Laemmli buffer, one of the most common SDS-PAGE buffers. In addition, Tris can also be used for many custom running and loading buffers, most often with glycine and SDS. The use of single-junction pH electrodes that contain silver should be avoided when determining the pH of a solution containing Tris buffer.

A Tris buffer solution can be made by mixing Tris with Tris-HCl. This prevents overshooting the pH and prevents the need to work with strong acids or bases. If neutralizing Tris-HCl with a strong base such as NaOH to make a buffer solution, ionic strength should be taken into consideration because of the formation of salt.

Product Specifications
Tris Hydrochloride
Tris HCl; 
2-amino-2-(hydroxymethyl)propane-1,3-diol;hydrochloride

Formula: C₄H₁₁NO₃ · HCl

MW: 157.60 g/mol

Storage/Handling: Store in a dry and well-ventilated place.

PubChem Chemical ID: 93573