Commonly used biological buffers.

Name: Commonly used biological buffers.
Creator: AAT Bioquest
License: https://www.aatbio.com/tou.html

Buffer ▲ ▼	pH Range ▲ ▼	pKa (20 °C) ▲ ▼	pKa (25 °C) ▲ ▼	pKa (37 °C) ▲ ▼	Mol. Wt. (g/mol) ▲ ▼	Type ▲ ▼	Application ▲ ▼	Metal Binding ▲ ▼	Recipe ▲ ▼
ACES	6.1-7.5	6.88	6.78	6.54	182.2	Zwitterionic	Cell culture media, protein purification, enzymatic assay (glucosidase activity), x-ray crystallography, yeast, and bacterial studies	Strong: Cu and Mg Weak: Ca, Mn, Co, Ni, and Zn
ADA	6.0-7.2	6.65	6.59	6.46	190.155	Zwitterionic	Protein crystallization, electrophoresis, differential scanning calorimetry, and metal decontamination in soil.	Strong: Mn, Co, Ni, Zn, Cd, Pb, and Cu
BES	6.4-7.8	7.17	7.09	6.90	213.2	Zwitterionic	Cell culture media, chromatography, protein quantification, transfection, bacterial endotoxin studies	Strong: Cu Weak: Co
Bicine	7.6-9.0	8.35	8.26	8.04	163.2	Zwitterionic	Cell culture media, chromatography, PCR, protein separation	Strong: Fe, Co, Mg, Ca, Ni, Zn, and Cd Weak: Mn
Bis-Tris	5.8-7.2	n/a	6.50	6.36	209.2	Zwitterionic	Cell culture media, chromatography, electrophoresis, protein purification	Strong: Cu and Pb Weak: Ca, Cd, Co, Mg, Mn, Ni, and Zn
CAPS	9.7-11.1	10.56	10.40	10.02	221.32	Zwitterionic	Cell culture media, chromatography, electrophoresis, electroblotting, diffusion blotting	Negligible
CHES	8.6-10.0	9.55	9.49	9.36	207.3	Zwitterionic	Cell culture media, chromatography, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, electrophoresis, enzymatic assays, kinetic measurements, yeast dextrose medium	Weak: Cu, Pb, Cd, and Zn
HEPES	6.8-8.2	7.55	7.45-7.65	7.31	238.3	Zwitterionic	Cell culture media, chromatography, cryopreservation, electrophoresis, electroporation, protein quantification	Negligible
HEPPSO	7.1-8.5	n/a	7.80	6.66	268.33	Zwitterionic	Cell culture media, enzymatic studies, isoelectric focusing, protein quantification, toxicology studies	Weak: Cu
MES	5.5-6.7	6.16	6.10	5.97	195.2	Zwitterionic	Cell culture media, chromatography, electrochromatography, electrophoresis, fluorescence microscopy, toxicology studies in yeast	Strong: Fe Weak: Cu, Mg, Mn, and Ni
MOPS	6.5-7.9	7.28	7.20	7.02	209.3	Zwitterionic	Cell culture media, chromatography, electrophoresis, protein purification and quantification, lysis buffer, toxicology studies in yeast	Strong: Fe Weak: Mg, Mn, Co, and Ni
MOPSO	6.2-7.6	n/a	6.90	6.75	225.3	Zwitterionic	Cell culture media, electrochromatography, electrophoresis, enzyme assays, fluorescence spectroscopy, isothermal titration calorimetry, lysis buffer, spectrophotometry	Strong: Fe Weak: Ni
PIPES	6.1-7.5	6.80	6.76	6.66	302.37	Zwitterionic	Cell culture media, chromatography, protein purification	Negligible
TAPS	7.7-9.1	8.49	8.40	8.18	243.28	Zwitterionic	Cell culture media, chromatography, DNA analysis, enzymatic assay (aminopeptidase activity),	Strong: Cu, Cr, and Fe Weak: Zn, Cd, and Pb	n/a
TES	6.8-8.2	7.50	7.40	7.16	229.25	Zwitterionic	Cell culture media, chromatography, DNA precipitation and extraction, enzyme assays, protein quantification	Strong: Cu, Cr, and Fe Weak: Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn
Tricine	7.4-8.8	8.16	8.05	7.80	179.2	Zwitterionic	Cell culture media, electrophoresis	Strong: Ca, Co, Cu, Mg, Ni, and Zn Weak: Mn
Tris	7.0-9.0	8.20	8.06	7.72	121.14	Zwitterionic	Electrophoresis, anion exchange chromatography, capillary electrochromatography, buffer for vaccines	Strong: Co, Cu, Cr, Fe, and Ni Weak: Ca, Cd, Mg, Pb, and Zn

Items per page: 1 - 10 of 17

⟨⟩

References

This online tool may be cited as follows

MLA	"Quest Database™ Commonly used biological buffers.." AAT Bioquest, Inc., 1 Sep. 2025, https://www.aatbio.com/data-sets/commonly-used-biological-buffers.
APA	AAT Bioquest, Inc. (2025, September 1). Quest Database™ Commonly used biological buffers.. AAT Bioquest. https://www.aatbio.com/data-sets/commonly-used-biological-buffers.
BibTeX	EndNote	RefMan

Commonly used biological buffers.

References

This online tool may be cited as follows

MLA

APA