Merck, T3163-5MG, Tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate Isomer R

General description
Tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate Isomer R (TRITC) is the R isomer of tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate and is also known as 6-tetramethylrhodamine isothiocyanate. It is a strongly fluorescent compound soluble in ethanol, methanol, dimethylformamide, dimethylsulfoxide, and water. TRITC is a moderately-sized aminoxanthene dye carrying carboxylic acid and isothiocyanate substituents on the non-planar pendant phenyl ring. It forms a lipophilic cation in acidic pH and a hydrophilic zwitterion around neutral pH. The isothiocyanate group reacts with nucleophilic substituents (e.g., amino, hydroxyl, thiol) of biomolecules, providing the means of attaching a fluorescent label. TRITC also reacts with water and hydroxide ions and is unstable in aqueous solutions. TRITC is commercially available as a zwitterion or as a chloride.
Application

• TRITC is used to label a wide variety of biomolecules, including immunoglobulins, lectins, nucleic acids, polynucleotides, and polysaccharides for affinity, immuno-, and in situ hybridization, fluorescent probes, and flow cytometry.
• Lectins are TRITC-Iabeled reagents for the affinity staining of sections and cell monolayers to distinguish the sialomucins of salivary glands.
• TRITC-antibodies are used to identify pathogenic amoebae.
• TRITC-oligonucleotides are used in the in-situ hybridization staining of soil microorganisms.
• TRITC-Iabeled reagents have also been used as fluorescent probes of live cells.
• Flow cytometry of TRlTC-Iabeled slime mold cells has been used to study their aggregation behavior.