Tris is a​​​​ zwitterionic buffer often used in biological and biochemical research. But… what is Tris actually suitable for? We collected reliable information from renowned academic sources in order to help scientists understanding better Tris’ characteristics and suitability for different biotechnology applications (electrophoresis, chromatography, and others). Check out how to use Tris buffer:

TRIS basic information:

• CAS Number: 77-86-1
• Molecular Weight: 121.14 g/mol
• Formula: C₄H₁₁NO₃
• Useful ph range: 7.2 - 9.0
• pKa (25°C): 8.06

Further reading:Solubility of Tris buffer in different solvents

What is TRIS recommended for?

1. Commonly used in buffer solutions for gel electrophoresis (TAE or TBE)
2. Commonly used in the preparation of Laemmli buffer (used for denaturing and loading of protein samples in SDS-PAGE)
3. For anion exchange chromatography¹
4. For the evaluation of bacterial endotoxins²
5. For capillary electrochromatography (CEC), since it has low ionic mobility³

Further reading:The 10 best biological buffers for chromatography

Which concerns should you have before choosing TRIS for your research?

• It is not very efficient below pH 7.5⁴
• It has a potentially reactive primary amine, which often acts as an inhibitor⁴
• It has a tendency to permeate membranes, therefore it is not suitable for most cell culture work⁵
• It is toxic for many mammalian cells⁶
• It is not suitable for use with the Bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay
• It may interfere with the Bradford dye-binding method of protein assay
• It is known to chelate calcium and other essential metals
• The pH of solutions containing Tris is very dependent on temperature, therefore it is important to prepare Tris buffer at the temperature at which it will be used ⁷
• It may interact with bicarbonate/CO2 buffer systems⁸

Useful tips about TRIS:

• It has a high solubility in organic solvents
• It reacts with and inhibits several types of enzymes
• It inactivates DEPC, a popular RNase inhibitor

Hopax TRIS Buffer

Hopax Fine Chemicals is among the largest producers of TRIS in the world. Our products are shipped daily to top research centers and biotech companies in Europe, America and Asia.

What we offer:

• Product straight from our manufacturing sites
• Worldwide shipping to your door
• Assistance with shipping
• Small and bulk packages (from grams to tons)
• International quality standards
• After-sales service with English speaking staff

References:

¹ Huisman, T. H., & Dozy, A. M. (1965) Studies on the heterogeneity of hemoglobin: IX. The use of tris (hydroxymethyl) aminomethane—HCl buffers in the anion-exchange chromatography of hemoglobins. Journal of Chromatography A, 19, 160-169. Available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021967301994348

² Fujita, Y., Tokunaga, T. and Kataoka H. (2011) Anal. Biochem., 409, 46–53. Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20951111

³ Altria, K. D., Smith, N. W. and Turnbull, C. H. (1998) J. Chromatogr. B: Biomed. Sci. Appl., , 717, 341–353.

⁴ Ferreira C. M., Pinto I.S., Soares, E.V., & Soares H.M. (2015) (Un)suitability of the use of pH buffers in biological, biochemical and environmental studies and their interaction with metal ions – a review, Royal Society of Chemistry 30989-31003. Available at https://repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt/bitstream/1822/38712/1/document_19948_1.pdf

⁵ Renganathan M., and Bose S. (1990) Photosynth. Res., 23, 95–99. Available at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00030068

⁶ Russell, D. W. and Sambrook, J. (2001) Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York, 3rd edn. Available at https://cshlpress.com/default.tpl?action=full&src=pdf&--eqskudatarq=934

⁷ El-Harakany, A. A., Halim, F. A., & Barakat, A. O. (1984) Dissociation constants and related thermodynamic quantities of the protonated acid form of tris-(hydroxymethyl)-aminomethane in mixtures of 2-methoxyethanol and water at different temperatures. Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry and Interfacial Electrochemistry, 162(1), 285-305. Available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022072884801710

⁸ Mauger J. W. (2017) Physicochemical Properties of Buffers Used in Simulated Biological Fluids with Potential Application for In Vitro Dissolution Testing: A Mini-review, Dissolution Technologies. August 2017. Available at https://www.dissolutiontech.com/issues/201708/DT201708_A03.pdf