Skip to Content
Merck
All Photos(1)

Documents

P1379

Sigma-Aldrich

TWEEN® 20

viscous liquid

Synonym(s):

Polyethylene glycol sorbitan monolaurate, Polyoxyethylenesorbitan monolaurate

Sign Into View Organizational & Contract Pricing
All Photos(1)

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

Looking for similar products? Visit Product Comparison Guide

Related Categories

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

Storage Class Code

10 - Combustible liquids

WGK

WGK 1

Flash Point(F)

527.0 °F - Pensky-Martens closed cup

Flash Point(C)

275 °C - Pensky-Martens closed cup

Personal Protective Equipment

dust mask type N95 (US), Eyeshields, Gloves

Choose from one of the most recent versions:

Certificates of Analysis (COA)

Lot/Batch Number

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

If you need assistance, please contact Customer Support.

Already Own This Product?

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

Visit the Document Library

Customers Also Viewed

Slide 1 of 6

1 of 6

TWEEN® 60 nonionic detergent

Sigma-Aldrich

P1629

TWEEN® 60

Triton™ X-100 laboratory grade

Sigma-Aldrich

X100

Triton™ X-100

Polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monolaurate solution ampule, ~10% in H2O

Sigma-Aldrich

93774

Polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monolaurate solution

Polysorbate 20 tested according to Ph. Eur.

Sigma-Aldrich

44112

Polysorbate 20

TWEEN® 20 (Polysorbate) EMPROVE® ESSENTIAL, Ph. Eur., JPE, NF

SAFC

8.17072

TWEEN® 20 (Polysorbate)

Polysorbate 20

Sigma-Aldrich

W291501

Polysorbate 20

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)
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)
Polysorbates 20 and 80 used in the formulation of protein biotherapeutics: structure and degradation pathways.
Kerwin BA
J. Pharm. Pharm. Sci., 97(8), 2924-2935 (2008)
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)
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
View All Related Papers

Articles

Fluorescent in situ Hybridization (FISH)

Available Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) procedures, reagents and equipment.

Protocols

Solubilization of Membrane Proteins

This page shows how to solubilize membrane proteins with products from Cytiva.

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