Skip to Content
Merck
All Photos(5)

Documents

G3272

Sigma-Aldrich

Guanidine hydrochloride

for molecular biology, ≥99%

Synonym(s):

Aminoformamidine hydrochloride, Aminomethanamidine hydrochloride, Guanidinium chloride

Sign Into View Organizational & Contract Pricing


About This Item

Linear Formula:
NH2C(=NH)NH2 · HCl
CAS Number:
Molecular Weight:
95.53
Beilstein:
3591990
EC Number:
MDL number:
UNSPSC Code:
12352107
PubChem Substance ID:
NACRES:
NA.31

biological source

synthetic (organic)

Quality Level

grade

for molecular biology

Assay

≥99%

form

crystalline powder

storage condition

(Tightly closed. Dry. )

technique(s)

RNA extraction: suitable

impurities

≤0.3% water (Karl Fischer)

color

white

pH

(25 °C, 4.6 - 6/573 g/L)

mp

180-185 °C (lit.)

solubility

H2O: 6 M, clear, colorless

density

1.3 g/cm3 (lit.)

cation traces

Pb: ≤5 ppm

UV absorption

λ: 260 nm Amax: ≤0.10
λ: 290 nm Amax: ≤0.05

foreign activity

DNase, RNase, none detected

SMILES string

Cl[H].NC(N)=N

InChI

1S/CH5N3.ClH/c2-1(3)4;/h(H5,2,3,4);1H

InChI key

PJJJBBJSCAKJQF-UHFFFAOYSA-N

Looking for similar products? Visit Product Comparison Guide

General description

Guanidine hydrochloride, also known as aminoformamidine hydrochloride, is a versatile compound widely used in molecular biology and biochemical research. Functioning as a potent chaotropic agent, it disrupts protein and nucleic acid structures, making it invaluable for purifying proteins, particularly mRNA. Its denaturing capabilities extend to unfolding proteins, aiding their purification and subsequent refolding, and it can even solubilize denatured insoluble proteins at higher concentrations.

At lower concentrations, guanidine hydrochloride exhibits a unique effect, promoting the refolding of denatured proteins and restoring enzymatic activity. This property is advantageous for protein renaturation studies. In RNA extraction, guanidine hydrochloride acts as a robust denaturant, disrupting cell structures and inactivating RNA enzymes, ensuring the integrity of extracted RNA. In summary, guanidine hydrochloride is a versatile compound with applications in protein purification, nucleic acid isolation, and protein refolding studies, showcasing its multifaceted utility in molecular biology and biochemical research.

Application

Guanidine hydrochloride has been used:
  • as a component of the extraction buffer for the extraction of proteoglycans
  • in extraction during protein fractionation of ATDC5 cell lines
  • as a chemical additive to study its effective absorbance spectra in structural analysis
  • to incubate the device chip to release prostate-specific antigen and for regeneration of aptamer
  • as a component of the 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) solution for detecting protein carbonyls by protein carbonylation study
  • in RNA isolation to dissociate nucleoproteins and inhibit RNase
Strong chaotropic agent useful for the denaturation and subsequent refolding of proteins. This strong denaturant can solubilize insoluble or denatured proteins such as inclusion bodies. This can be used as the first step in refolding proteins or enzymes into their active form. Urea and dithiothreitol (DTT) may also be necessary.

Biochem/physiol Actions

Guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl) is a small hydroscopic molecule. It plays a role in inhibiting heat shock protein 104 (Hsp104) adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity in vivo. It is a potent denaturant and inactivator of several enzymes and proteins. GuHCl can inactivate aminoacylase and papain. It is involved in unfolding and inactivation of alkaline phosphatase in Haliotis diversicolor. At higher concentrations, GuHCl is involved in virus inactivation such as Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1).

Features and Benefits

  • Highly versatile surfactant for your cell biology and biochemical research
  • Suitable for sensitive molecular biology applications
  • Free from Exonuclease, Dnase and Rnase
  • Tested to confirm low levels of heavy metal contamination, ensuring suitability for various applications

Caution

May agglomerate upon storage. The quality of the product does not appear to be affected and solutions prepared from the free-flowing and lumpy guanidine hydrochloride appear identical.

Preparation Note

In order to make an 8M solution in water, one must heat the solution to 35 °C for approximately 30 minutes.
The maximum solubility of guanidine hydrochloride in water at room temperature is approximately 6M.

Other Notes

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

Pictograms

Exclamation mark

Signal Word

Warning

Hazard Statements

Hazard Classifications

Acute Tox. 4 Inhalation - Acute Tox. 4 Oral - Eye Irrit. 2 - Skin Irrit. 2

Storage Class Code

11 - Combustible Solids

WGK

WGK 1

Flash Point(F)

Not applicable

Flash Point(C)

Not applicable

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

Ning Gao et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113(51), 14633-14638 (2016-12-09)
Nanomaterial-based field-effect transistor (FET) sensors are capable of label-free real-time chemical and biological detection with high sensitivity and spatial resolution, although direct measurements in high-ionic-strength physiological solutions remain challenging due to the Debye screening effect. Recently, we demonstrated a general
Xianglu Han et al.
Toxicology, 297(1-3), 1-9 (2012-04-11)
There is an urgent need for in vitro screening assays to evaluate nanoparticle (NP) toxicity. However, the relevance of in vitro assays is still disputable. We administered doses of TiO(2) NPs of different sizes to alveolar epithelial cells in vitro
Dafné Wilhelm et al.
Journal of proteomics, 219, 103718-103718 (2020-02-26)
Fibrillar collagens and proteoglycans (PGs) are quantitatively the major constituents of extracellular matrices (ECM). They carry numerous crucial post-translational modifications (PTMs) that tune the resulting biomechanical properties of the corresponding tissues. The mechanisms determining these PTMs remain largely unknown, notably
Yang Wei et al.
Biochimica et biophysica acta, 1844(12), 2331-2337 (2014-10-14)
Conventional empirical methods for the quantification of the helical content of proteins in solution using circular dichroism (CD) primarily rely on spectral data acquired between wavelengths of 190 and 230nm. The presence of chemical species in a protein solution with
Current protocols in protein science, 84, A-A (2016-04-03)
The reagents and methods for purification and use of the most commonly used denaturants, guanidine hydrochloride (guanidine-HCl) and urea, are described. Other protein denaturants and reagents used to fold proteins are briefly mentioned. Sulfhydryl reagents (reducing agents) and "oxido-shuffling" (or

Protocols

TRI Reagent enables simultaneous DNA, RNA, and protein isolation with sample prep guidelines and troubleshooting.

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