Trimethylolaminomethane Tris, namely aminobutriol, also known as bradycardic acid amine, is a kind of ternary alcohol containing amino group, which has weak alkalinity. It is usually used with weak acid as Good’s buffer and widely used in biochemical detection and kits in biochemistry and molecular biology.

Good's buffer Tris powder

Physical and chemical properties of Tris

English name: Trometamol

Molecular weight: 121.135

Molecular formula: (HOCH2)3CNH2

Appearance: white crystal powder

Solubility: soluble in water and ethanol, slightly soluble in ethyl acetate and benzene, insoluble in ether and carbon tetrachloride.

pKa: 8.1 at room temperature, pH10.5 in aqueous solution

Buffer range: 7.0~9.2

Tris buffer is usually used as a solvent for nucleic acids and proteins. Because the carbon atom at position 2 of Tris is connected with amino group, and the aqueous solution is alkaline, when DNA dissolves in this solution, it will be deprotonated, so as to improve the solubility. As a buffer, Tris is usually used with weak acid, such as hydrochloric acid or Tris HCl salt. In addition to HCl, it is often used with acetic acid and boric acid, as well as glycine in electrophoresis buffer.

Tris HCl buffer

Weigh the required mass according to the molecular weight of Tris (commonly used concentration is 1~2M), prepare an aqueous solution, and then slowly add concentrated hydrochloric acid to adjust to the required pH value. Note that when the prepared solution is alkaline, it will absorb the acid gas CO₂ in the air, and the bottle cap needs to be closed tightly; when adjusting the pH, the solution needs to be cooled to room temperature, and the solution is sensitive to temperature. When the pH value is increased by 1℃, the pH value will drop by 0.03, otherwise, it will change when it is cooled to room temperature after adjusting the pH value.

TE buffer

Tris EDTA buffer, commonly used in molecular biological reagents, dissolves DNA. The commonly used concentration is 10-100mM, and the molar concentration of EDTA is one tenth of it. Hydrochloric acid regulates the pH to the required value.

TAE buffer: TrisAcetateEDTA, where acetic acid is used instead of hydrochloric acid.

TBE buffer: Tris+Borate+EDTA, adjust pH and replace hydrochloric acid with boric acid.

Tris-Gly buffer: adjust pH and replace hydrochloric acid with glycine.

TBS buffer: In addition to Tris base, salt NaCl and a small amount of KCl should be added to the solution, and the pH should be adjusted with concentrated hydrochloric acid

TBST buffer: add 0.1% Tween 20 to TBS.

Besides being used as DNA, protein lysis buffer, electrophoretic buffer and SDS-PAGE gel electrophoresis, Tris can also react with carbonic acid as humic acid amine in body fluid, generate bicarbonate, absorb hydrogen ions and correct acidemia, and have strong action and can penetrate cell membrane. Tris produced by Desheng is mainly used for Good’s buffer and mass export for further refining.