Lidstrom:Buffers

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General Info

pH = pK_a + log[A^-]/[HA]

Buffers are usually used within one pK -1 to pK +1.

(source: ISBN 0-19-963142-5 pg 318)

Does pH of a buffer depend on the concentration of buffer?

A buffer would be expected to maintain its pH upon dilution, if both [A-] and [HA] are reduced in equivalent proportions

(source: ISBN 0-19-963142-5 pg 318)

Resources

Book about buffers

• Helpful book chapter: protein purification handbook (Calbiochem). It is a little mammalian biased, but good.
  • Table of Contents: (subset)
    • Dissociation Constants of Weak Acids and Bases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
    • Henderson-Hasselbach Equation: pH and pKa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
    • Determination of pKa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
    • Values for Commonly Used Biological Buffers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
    • Buffers, Buffer Capacity, and Range. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
    • Biological Buffers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
    • Buffering in Cells and Tissues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
    • Effect of Temperature on pH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
    • Effect of Buffers on Factors Other than pH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
    • Use of Water-Miscible Organic Solvents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
    • Solubility Equilibrium: Effect of pH on Solubility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
    • pH Measurements: Some Useful Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
    • Choosing a Buffer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
    • Preparation of Some Common Buffers for Use in Biological Systems. . . . . . . 18
    • Commonly Used Buffer Media in Biological Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
    • Isoelectric Point of Selected Proteins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
    • Isoelectric Point of Selected Plasma and Serum Proteins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
    • Approximate pH and Bicarbonate Concentration in Extracellular Fluids . . . 27
    • Ionic Composition of Body Fluids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
    • Ionization Constants K and pKa for Selected Acids and Bases in Water . . . . . 28
    • Physical Properties of Some Commonly Used Acids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
    • Some Useful Tips for Calculation of Concentrations and Spectrophotometric Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
  • Good exerpts:
    • "Effects of Buffers on Factors Other than pH: It is of utmost importance that researchers establish the criteria and determine the suitability of a particular buffer system. Some weak acids and bases may interfere with the reaction system. For example, citrate and phosphate buffers are not recommended for systems that are highly calcium-dependent. Citric acid and its salts are powerful calcium chelators. Phosphates react with calcium producing insoluble calcium phosphate that precipitates out of the system. Phosphate ions in buffers can inhibit the activity of some enzymes, such as carboxypeptidase, fumarease, carboxylase, and phosphoglucomutase. Tris(hydroxy-methyl)aminomethane can chelate copper and also acts as a competitive inhibitor of some enzymes. Other buffers such as ACES, BES, and TES, have a tendency to bind copper. Tris-based buffers are not recommended when studying the metabolic effects of insulin. Buffers such as HEPES and HEPPS are not suitable when a protein assay is performed by using Folin reagent. Buffers with primary amine groups, such as Tris, may interfere with the Bradford dye-binding method of protein assay. Borate buffers are not suitable for gel electrophoresis of protein, they can cause spreading of the zones if polyols are present in the medium"
• Note Janet hasn't answered the original question! In fact, this pdf only discussed sodium phosphate buffer.

Q&A

How do method developer chose between sodium and potassium phospahte buffers?

• Facts:
  • The pKas for sodium and potassium phosphate salts are the same.
  • The buffering capacities are the same.
• Potential issues:
  • Na or K interferance with an enzyme
    • It is possible one will interfere more than the other.
  • Solubility
    • Sometimes Na precipitates when K wouldn't & vice versa
• Michael Konopka's words: "What assays are you trying to measure? As for the buffering capacity, that really shouldn't matter since the pertinent components for the buffer (mono- and di-basic phosphate) are the same. The issue is if the potassium or sodium ion will form a precipitate which you don't want around if mixing with other solutions (or do want). A classic example is potassium will precipitate SDS while sodium is soluble. That's why in minipreps one adds potassium acetate/acetic acid after using SDS/NaOH to lyse the cells/dissolve lipids & proteins. The proteins, lipids, and chromosomal DNA is then trapped in the precipitate (plasmid DNA still in solution)."