Guanidine Hydrochloride, Molecular Biology Reagent

Guanidine hydrochloride consists of a network of guanidinium cations and chloride anions linked by N–H•••Cl hydrogen bonds, it is a strong chaotropic agent. Guanidine HCl may agglomerate upon storage. It may appear as a free-flowing crystalline powder, a free flowing powder with solid material dispersed throughout, or a solid. The quality of the product does not appear to be affected and solutions prepared from the free-flowing and lumpy guanidine HCl appear identical.

Guanidine hydrochloride can be used as the first step in refolding proteins or enzymes into their active form. Urea and dithiothreitol (DTT) may also be necessary. Also used in the isolation of RNA. Guanidine hydrochloride is a strong chaotropic agent useful for the denaturation and subsequent refolding of protein, it can solubilize insoluble or denatured proteins such as inclusion bodies and be used for the recovery of periplasmic proteins.