MOPS is the common name for the compound 3-(N-morpholino)propanesulfonic acid, a buffer

Buffer solution

A buffer solution is an aqueous solution consisting of a mixture of a weak acid and its conjugate base or a weak base and its conjugate acid. It has the property that the pH of the solution changes very little when a small amount of strong acid or base is added to it. Buffer solutions are used as a...

 introduced by Good et al. in the 1960s. It is a structural analog to MES

MES (buffer)

MES is the common name for the compound 2-ethanesulfonic acid. Its chemical structure contains a morpholine ring. It has a molecular weight of 195.2 and the chemical formula is C6H13NO4S...

. Its chemical structure contains a morpholine

Morpholine

Morpholine is an organic chemical compound having the chemical formula O2NH. This heterocycle, pictured at right, features both amine and ether functional groups. Because of the amine, morpholine is a base; its conjugate acid is called morpholinium...

 ring. HEPES

HEPES

HEPES is a zwitterionic organic chemical buffering agent; one of the twelve Good's buffers...

 is a similar pH

PH

In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...

 buffering compound that contains a piperazine

Piperazine

Piperazine is an organic compound that consists of a six-membered ring containing two opposing nitrogen atoms. Piperazine exists as small alkaline deliquescent crystals with a saline taste....

 ring. With a pK_a

PKA

PKA, pKa, or other similar variations may stand for:* pKa, the symbol for the acid dissociation constant at logarithmic scale* Protein kinase A, a class of cAMP-dependent enzymes* Pi Kappa Alpha, the North-American social fraternity...

 of 7.20, MOPS is an excellent buffer for many biological systems at near-neutral pH.

Applications

MOPS is frequently used as a buffering agent

Buffering agent

A buffering agent is a weak acid or base used to maintain the acidity of a solution at a chosen value. The function of a buffering agent is to prevent a rapid change in pH when acids or bases are added to the solution. Buffering agents have variable properties—some are more soluble than others;...

 in biology

Biology

Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...

 and biochemistry

Biochemistry

Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...

. It has been tested and recommended for polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Usage above 20 mM in mammalian cell culture

Cell culture

Cell culture is the complex process by which cells are grown under controlled conditions. In practice, the term "cell culture" has come to refer to the culturing of cells derived from singlecellular eukaryotes, especially animal cells. However, there are also cultures of plants, fungi and microbes,...

 work is not recommended.

See also

• MES
  MES (buffer)
  MES is the common name for the compound 2-ethanesulfonic acid. Its chemical structure contains a morpholine ring. It has a molecular weight of 195.2 and the chemical formula is C6H13NO4S...
  
  
• HEPES
  HEPES
  HEPES is a zwitterionic organic chemical buffering agent; one of the twelve Good's buffers...
  
  
• CAPSO
• HEPPS
  HEPPS (buffer)
  HEPPS or EPPS are the common names for the compound 3-[4--1-piperazinyl]propanesulfonic acid. It is used as a buffering agent in biology and biochemistry. Its chemical structure contains a piperazine ring. The pKa of HEPPS is 8.00....
  
  
• Tris
  Tris
  Tris is an abbreviation of the organic compound known as trisaminomethane, with the formula 3CNH2. Tris is extensively used in biochemistry and molecular biology. In biochemistry, tris is widely used as a component of buffer solutions, such as in TAE and TBE buffer, especially for solutions of...
  
  
• Common buffer compounds used in biology

External links

• Safety information
• Sigma Aldrich Buffer Calculator - Useful tool to calculate weight, volume, or concentration from molecular weight.
• Recipe for MOPS buffer on OpenWetWare