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P1379

Sigma-Aldrich

TWEEN® 20

viscous liquid

Synonym(s):

Polyethylene glycol sorbitan monolaurate, Polyoxyethylenesorbitan monolaurate

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About This Item

CAS Number:
9005-64-5
MDL number:
MFCD00165986
UNSPSC Code:
12161900
NACRES:
NA.21

description

non-ionic

Quality Level

300

Assay

>40% (GC)

form

viscous liquid

mol wt

~1228

composition

lauric acid, ≥40% (balance primarily myristic, palmitic, and stearic acids)

concentration

≥40.0% (GC)

technique(s)

DNA extraction: suitable
RNA extraction: suitable
cell culture | mammalian: suitable
protein purification: suitable

impurities

≤3.0% water

refractive index

n20/D 1.468 (lit.)

CMC

0.06 mM (20-25°C)

acid number

≤2.2 mg/g

hydroxyl value

96‑108 mg/g

transition temp

cloud point 76 °C

density

1.095 g/mL at 25 °C (lit.)

HLB

16.7

suitability

complies for IR spectroscopy

SMILES string

CCCCCCCCCCCC(=O)OCCOCC(C1C(C(CO1)OCCO)OCCO)OCCO

InChI

1S/C26H50O10/c1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-24(30)34-19-18-31-20-22(32-15-12-27)26-25(35-17-14-29)23(21-36-26)33-16-13-28/h22-23,25-29H,2-21H2,1H3

InChI key

HMFKFHLTUCJZJO-UHFFFAOYSA-N

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General description

Tween®20 is a polyoxyethylene sorbitol ester that belongs to the polysorbate family. It is a nonionic detergent having a molecular weight of 1,225 daltons, assuming 20 ethylene oxide units, 1 sorbitol, and 1 lauric acid as the primary fatty acid. The ethylene oxide subunits are responsible for the hydrophilic nature of the surfactant, while the hydrocarbon chains provide the hydrophobic environment. Sorbitol forms the backbone ring to which the ethylene oxide polymers are attached.
Tween® 20 is a nonionic surfactant and detergent widely applied in biochemical and life science research. Its predominant use involves the solubilization of membrane proteins during the isolation of membrane-protein complexes. Moreover, it serves as a component in various washing, blocking, dilution, and stabilization buffers. Additionally, it functions as a reagent for immunohistochemistry, encompassing techniques like Western blotting and ELISAs. In these applications, Tween® 20 plays crucial roles such as preventing non-specific antibody binding, minimizing background staining, and ensuring the even distribution of reagents.

Surfactants, possessing both hydrophilic and hydrophobic components, fall into two main categories: ionic, which ionize in water (anionic, cationic, or ampholytic), and nonionic, which do not ionize. The discussed product is a nonionic surfactant with diverse applications such as emulsification, dispersion, solubilization, and detergent use. Additionally, it can serve as a solubilizer for membrane proteins.

Application

TWEEN 20 has been used as a component of:
  • washing buffer and blocking buffer in Western blotting
  • blocking buffer in immunohistochemistry
  • washing buffer in ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay)
  • reaction mixture in PCR (polymerase chain reaction)
TWEEN 20 is a nonionic detergent widely used in biochemical applications. It has been used as an emulsifying agent for the preparation of stable oil-in-water emulsions. TWEEN 20 has been used in pre-extraction of membranes to remove peripheral proteins (used at 2% for extraction of membrane-bound proteins).
TWEEN 20 has been used as a blocking agent for membrane based immunoassays at a typical concentration of 0.05%. TWEEN 20 can be used for lysing mammalian cells at a concentration of 0.005 to 0.5%.
Non-ionic detergent

Features and Benefits

  • Highly versatile surfactant for your life science and biochemical research
  • Excellent solubilising, dispersing and emulsifying agent
  • Suitable for DNA & RNA extraction, mammalian cell culture, and protein purification

Packaging

P1379-1KT:
Each kit contains 3 x 100ML samples, each sample from a uniquely manufactured lot.

Preparation Note

TWEEN 20 is miscible in water (100mg/mL), yielding a clear, yellow solution. It is also miscible with alcohol, dioxane, and ethyl acetate. TWEEN 20 is insoluble in liquid paraffin and fixed oils.

Other Notes

For additional information on our range of Biochemicals, please complete this form.

Legal Information

TWEEN is a registered trademark of Croda International PLC

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Flash Point(F)

527.0 °F

Flash Point(C)

275 °C

Personal Protective Equipment

dust mask type N95 (US), Eyeshields, Gloves

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Certificates of Analysis (COA)

Lot/Batch Number

Sorry, we don't have COAs for this product available online at this time.

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  1. What is the percentage of Tween 20 in Product P1379?

    P1379 is not diluted in any solvent. Thus it can be considered "100%" or the "neat" material.

  2. Can solutions of Product P1379, Tween® 20, be autoclaved?

    Increased temperature can lead to autoxidation of TWEEN 20 in solution. Autoclaving is not recommended without testing for changes in properties. TWEEN 20 may not be stable to autoclaving, particularly with metal cations in buffer solutions. TWEEN 20 is heat sensitive; it will darken when exposed to elevated temperatures. Autoclaving is done at the customer's risk.

  3. What is the source of Product P1379, Tween® 20? Is it from plant or animal source, or synthetic?

    Origin information on any lot of Tween 20 is specific to that lot, and can be found on its Certificate of Origin (CofO), which may be accessed on the Sigma-Aldrich website under its specific product and lot number.

  4. The appearance of Product P1379, Tween® 20, is clear dark yellow. Is this OK?

    Yes. The specifications for P1379 are "clear yellow to yellow green viscous liquid".

  5. Is Product P1379, Tween® 20, protease-free?

    We have not tested P1379 in quality control to be protease-free. There is a Molecular Biology grade of Tween 20, P9416, but this is not tested specifically for proteases either. P9416 is tested to be endonuclease-endonuclease free and to be ribonuclease-free.

  6. Which document(s) contains shelf-life or expiration date information for a given product?

    If available for a given product, the recommended re-test date or the expiration date can be found on the Certificate of Analysis.

  7. How do I get lot-specific information or a Certificate of Analysis?

    The lot specific COA document can be found by entering the lot number above under the "Documents" section.

  8. How do I find price and availability?

    There are several ways to find pricing and availability for our products. Once you log onto our website, you will find the price and availability displayed on the product detail page. You can contact any of our Customer Sales and Service offices to receive a quote.  USA customers:  1-800-325-3010 or view local office numbers.

  9. What is the Department of Transportation shipping information for this product?

    Transportation information can be found in Section 14 of the product's (M)SDS.To access the shipping information for this material, use the link on the product detail page for the product. 

  10. My question is not addressed here, how can I contact Technical Service for assistance?

    Ask a Scientist here.

Ethylene and carbon dioxide production by developing strawberries show a correlative pattern that is indicative of ripening climacteric fruit.
Lannetta PM et al
Physiologia Plantarum, 127.2, 247-259 (2006)
Use of tRNA consensus primers to indicate subgroups of Pseudomonas solanacearum by polymerase chain reaction amplification.
Seal SE et al
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 58(11), 3759-3761 (1992)
Gene expression and immune response kinetics using electroporation-mediated DNA delivery to muscle.
Gr?nevik E et al
The journal of gene medicine, 7(2), 218-227 (2005)
Thomas Beuchert Kallehauge et al.
Scientific reports, 7, 40388-40388 (2017-01-17)
Recombinant protein production coopts the host cell machinery to provide high protein yields of industrial enzymes or biotherapeutics. However, since protein translation is energetically expensive and tightly controlled, it is unclear if highly expressed recombinant genes are translated as efficiently
Jennifer Somerfield et al.
Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950), 185(1), 763-768 (2010-06-04)
Biological therapies, even humanized mAbs, may induce antiglobulin responses that impair efficacy. We tested a novel strategy to induce tolerance to a therapeutic mAb. Twenty patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis received an initial cycle of alemtuzumab (Campath-1H), up to 120
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