EGTA (chemical)

EGTA (chemical)
Skeletal formula of EGTA
Ball-and-stick model of the EGTA molecule
Names
IUPAC name
ethylene glycol-bis(2-aminoethylether)-N,N,N,N-tetraacetic acid
Identifiers
67-42-5 Yes
ChEBI CHEBI:30740 Yes
ChEMBL ChEMBL240390 Yes
ChemSpider 5972 Yes
Jmol-3D images Image
KEGG D00569 Yes
PubChem 6207
UNII 526U7A2651 Yes
Properties
Molecular formula
C14H24N2O10
Molar mass 380.35 g·mol−1
Melting point 241 °C (466 °F; 514 K)
Except where noted otherwise, data is given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C (77 °F), 100 kPa)
 Yes verify (what is: Yes/?)
Infobox references

EGTA (ethylene glycol tetraacetic acid) is an aminopolycarboxylic acid, a chelating agent. It is a colourless solid that is related to the better known EDTA. Compared to EDTA, it has a lower affinity for magnesium, making it more selective for calcium ions. It is useful in buffer solutions that resemble the environment in living cells[1] where calcium ions are usually at least a thousandfold less concentrated than magnesium.

The pKa for binding of calcium ions by tetrabasic EGTA is 11.00, but the protonated forms do not significantly contribute to binding, so at pH 7, the apparent pKa becomes 6.91. See Qin et al. for an example of a pKa calculation.[2]

EGTA has also been used experimentally for the treatment of animals with cerium poisoning and for the separation of thorium from the mineral monazite. EGTA is used as a compound in elution buffer in the protein purification technique known as tandem affinity purification, in which recombinant fusion proteins are bound to calmodulin beads and eluted out by adding EGTA.

EGTA is often employed in dentistry and endodontics for the removal of the smear layer.

See also

References

  1. Bett, Glenna C. L.; Rasmusson, Randall L. (2002). "1. Computer Models of Ion Channels". In Cabo, Candido; Rosenbaum, David S. Quantitative Cardiac Electrophysiology. Marcel Dekker. p. 48. ISBN 0-8247-0774-5.
  2. Ning Qin, Riccardo Olcese, Michael Bransby, Tony Lin, and Lutz Birnbaumer (March 1999). "Ca2+-induced inhibition of the cardiac Ca2+ channel depends on calmodulin". PNAS 96 (5): 2435–2438. doi:10.1073/pnas.96.5.2435. PMC 26802. PMID 10051660. Retrieved 2007-10-22.