5082. IPTG

Nomenclature

CAS number: 367-93-1
1-Methylethyl 1-thio-β-d-galactopyranoside; isopropyl β-d-thiogalactopyranoside.
C9H18O5S; mol wt 238.30.
C 45.36%, H 7.61%, O 33.57%, S 13.46%.

Description and references

Artificial, slow-hydrolyzing inducer of the lactose (lac) operon. Prepn: B. Helferich, D. Türk, Ber. 89, 2215 (1956); U. Carlsson et al., Protein Eng. 4, 1019 (1991). Induction of β-galactosidase: V. Paces et al., Collect. Czech. Chem. Commun. 38, 2983 (1973). Binding to β-d-galactosidase: C. K. De Bruyne, M. Yde, Carbohydr. Res. 56, 153 (1977). Concentration effects on lac operon induction in E. coli: S. Cho et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 128, 1268 (1985). Effect of lactose permease on induction by IPTG: L. H. Hansen et al., Curr. Microbiol. 36, 341 (1998).

Chemical structure

Properties

mp 109.5-110.5°. [α]D22 31.4° (c = 5 in water). Also reported as crystals from dioxane, mp 118-119°. [α]D 26.4° (c = 1 in water) (Carlsson). Log P (octanol/water): 1.26.

Use

Induces protein synthesis in E. coli when transcription is controlled by the lac-promoter. In conjunction with X-gal, q.v., in detection of lac gene activity during cloning experiments.