Skip to Content
Merck
All Photos(1)

Documents

63689

Sigma-Aldrich

2-Mercaptoethanol

BioUltra, for molecular biology, ≥99.0% (GC)

Synonym(s):

β-Mercaptoethanol, 2-Hydroxyethylmercaptan, BME, Thioethylene glycol

Sign Into View Organizational & Contract Pricing


About This Item

Linear Formula:
HSCH2CH2OH
CAS Number:
Molecular Weight:
78.13
Beilstein:
773648
EC Number:
MDL number:
UNSPSC Code:
12161504
PubChem Substance ID:
NACRES:
NA.25

grade

for molecular biology

Quality Level

vapor density

2.69 (vs air)

vapor pressure

1 mmHg ( 20 °C)

product line

BioUltra

Assay

≥99.0% (GC)

form

liquid

expl. lim.

18 %

reaction suitability

reagent type: reductant

concentration

14.3 M (pure liquid)

technique(s)

RNA extraction: suitable
protein extraction: suitable

impurities

DNases, none detected
RNases, none detected
insoluble matter, passes filter test
phosphatases, none detected
proteases, none detected

refractive index

n20/D 1.500 (lit.)
n20/D 1.501

pH

4.5-6 (20 °C, 500 g/L)

bp

157 °C (lit.)

solubility

H2O: 0.5 M at 20 °C, clear, colorless

density

1.114 g/mL at 25 °C (lit.)

cation traces

Al: ≤0.5 mg/kg
Ba: ≤0.1 mg/kg
Bi: ≤0.1 mg/kg
Ca: ≤0.5 mg/kg
Cd: ≤0.05 mg/kg
Co: ≤0.02 mg/kg
Cr: ≤0.02 mg/kg
Cu: ≤0.02 mg/kg
Fe: ≤0.1 mg/kg
K: ≤0.5 mg/kg
Li: ≤0.1 mg/kg
Mg: ≤0.1 mg/kg
Mn: ≤0.02 mg/kg
Mo: ≤0.1 mg/kg
Na: ≤1 mg/kg
Ni: ≤0.05 mg/kg
Pb: ≤0.1 mg/kg
Sr: ≤0.1 mg/kg
Zn: ≤0.1 mg/kg

SMILES string

OCCS

λ

0.5 M in H2O

UV absorption

λ: 260 nm Amax: 1.5
λ: 280 nm Amax: 0.3

storage temp.

2-8°C

InChI

1S/C2H6OS/c3-1-2-4/h3-4H,1-2H2

InChI key

DGVVWUTYPXICAM-UHFFFAOYSA-N

Looking for similar products? Visit Product Comparison Guide

Application

2-Mercaptoethanol has been used
  • in the protein extraction buffer prepared for leaf samples.
  • as a supplement in cell culture media.
  • in the procedure of RNA extraction.
BME is suitable for reducing protein disulfide bonds prior to polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and is usually included in a sample buffer for SDS-PAGE at a concentration of 5%. Cleaving intermolecular (between subunits) disulfide bonds allows the subunits of a protein to separate independently on SDS-PAGE. Cleaving intramolecular (within subunit) disulfide bonds allows the subunits to become completely denatured so that each peptide migrates according to its chain length with no influence due to secondary structure.

Other Notes

Isolation of RNA using guanidinium salts. Inclusion of a reductant enhances denaturation by breaking intramolecular protein disulfide bonds

Signal Word

Danger

Hazard Classifications

Acute Tox. 2 Dermal - Acute Tox. 3 Inhalation - Acute Tox. 3 Oral - Aquatic Acute 1 - Aquatic Chronic 2 - Eye Dam. 1 - Repr. 2 - Skin Irrit. 2 - Skin Sens. 1A - STOT RE 2 Oral

Target Organs

Liver,Heart

Storage Class Code

6.1A - Combustible acute toxic Cat. 1 and 2 / very toxic hazardous materials

WGK

WGK 3

Flash Point(F)

165.2 °F - closed cup

Flash Point(C)

74 °C - closed cup

Personal Protective Equipment

dust mask type N95 (US), Eyeshields, Gloves

Certificates of Analysis (COA)

Search for Certificates of Analysis (COA) by entering the products Lot/Batch Number. Lot and Batch Numbers can be found on a product’s label following the words ‘Lot’ or ‘Batch’.

Already Own This Product?

Find documentation for the products that you have recently purchased in the Document Library.

Visit the Document Library

The interplay between protein L-isoaspartyl methyltransferase activity and insulin-like signaling to extend lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Khare S et al.
PLoS ONE, 6, e20850-e20850 (2011)
Microfluidic extraction, stretching and analysis of human chromosomal DNA from single cells.
Benitez JJ et al.
Lab on a chip, 12, 4848-4848 (2012)
Isolation of RNA using guanidinium salts.
R J MacDonald et al.
Methods in enzymology, 152, 219-227 (1987-01-01)
Adam Healey et al.
Plant methods, 10, 21-21 (2014-07-24)
Next-generation sequencing technologies rely on high quality DNA that is suitable for library preparation followed by sequencing. Some plant species store large amounts of phenolics and polysaccharides within their leaf tissue making genomic DNA extraction difficult. While many DNA extraction
Katharina Rothe et al.
Blood, 123(23), 3622-3634 (2014-04-24)
Previous studies demonstrated that imatinib mesylate (IM) induces autophagy in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and that this process is critical to cell survival upon therapy. However, it is not known if the autophagic process differs at basal levels between CML

Articles

Bis-Tris SDS-PAGE gel casting kits with mPAGE® TurboMix technology for rapid, reliable gel casting and protein separation.

Protocols

Simplify your SDS-PAGE gel preparation with our pre-mixed solutions and protocols to achieve precise protein separation.

Our team of scientists has experience in all areas of research including Life Science, Material Science, Chemical Synthesis, Chromatography, Analytical and many others.

Contact Technical Service