BES is a zwitterionic buffering agent used in biochemistry and molecular biology that was first selected and described by Good et al. It is a bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amine buffer that is useful for a pH range of 6.4 – 7.8. It is soluble in water at 0°C up to 3.2M. Like most neutral, amine-based buffers, BES forms a complex with DNA. It interferes with reactions between DNA and restriction enzymes to a lesser extent than similar buffers with less substituted amine groups, such as Tris. This lack of interference occurs because steric hindrance of the protonated tertiary amine in BES shields the negative charge of DNA to a lesser extent than less substituted buffers. BES can be used in a buffered saline solution in the calcium phosphate mediated transfection of eukaryotic cells with plasmid DNA. BES also forms a complex with certain metals, including copper and cobalt. Though BES binds to coppers ions, it is still suitable for use with the bicinchoninic acid (BCA) assay. Diminished protein-induced color development can be accounted for or even eliminated by precipitating protein prior to reaction with bicinchoninic acid.

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.

HEPES 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 6.8 – 8.2. HEPES 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.

HEPES 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, piperazinic buffer that is useful for a pH range of 6.8 – 8.2. HEPES 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. It is commonly used in cell culture media and as an ampholytic separator to create a pH gradient in isoelectric focusing. HEPES interferes with reactions between DNA and restriction enzymes to a lesser extent than similar buffers with less substituted amine groups, such as Tris. This lack of interference occurs because steric hindrance of the protonated tertiary amine in HEPES shields the negative charge of DNA to a lesser extent than less substituted buffers. 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.

MES 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 5.5 – 6.7 and commonly used for cell culture media, as a running buffer in electrophoresis, and for protein purification in chromatography. MES 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. MES is often used in buffered culture media for bacteria, yeast, and mammalian cells. It is toxic towards plants at high concentrations, but can be used in culture media at lower concentrations for plants. Due to low ionic mobility, MES is regarded as an excellent buffer for use in capillary electrochromatography. MES is often employed as a substitute for the highly toxic cacodylate, as well as a substitute for the non-zwitterionic buffers citrate and malate. MES complexes with some organotin(IV) molecules that are being explored as antitumor agents.

MES 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 5.5 – 6.7 and commonly used for cell culture media, as a running buffer in electrophoresis, and for protein purification in chromatography. MES 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. MES is often used in buffered culture media for bacteria, yeast, and mammalian cells. It is toxic towards plants at high concentrations, but can be used in culture media at lower concentrations for plants. Due to low ionic mobility, MES is regarded as an excellent buffer for use in capillary electrochromatography. MES is often employed as a substitute for the highly toxic cacodylate, as well as a substitute for the non-zwitterionic buffers citrate and malate. MES complexes with some organotin(IV) molecules that are being explored as antitumor agents.

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 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.

PBS (phosphate buffered saline) is a common buffer solution used in the laboratory. It is an isotonic and non-toxic buffer that is meant to mimic the osmolarity and ion concentrations of the human body. PBS is used for immunoassays, for sample dilution, for protein purification, and as a wash buffer in cell cultures. PBS tablets are premeasured tablets for convenient preparation of 1X PBS solution at a pH of 7.3 – 7.5. PBS buffer contains 10mM phosphate buffer, 137mM sodium chloride, and 2.7mM potassium chloride.

GoldBio Tris has the highest purity available on the market. 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 and is also used in the preparation of Laemmli buffer, one of the most common SDS-PAGE buffers. In addition, it can also be used for many custom running and loading buffers, most often with glycine and SDS.

Tris hydrochloride is a reagent that is used for the stabilization of buffer formulations and electrophoresis of biological molecules.