Chloroform usually melts or reacts with plastic. But does it it affect in ependorff tubes ?
Thanks in Advance
Lokesh Ravi
Plastic Eppendorf tubes that are actually made by Eppendorf are polypropylene (PP) according to their website. At room temperature PP will absorb some chloroform* and soften, but not lose shape. Hot chloroform will dissolve it. At room temperature, properties are recovered on drying. See Eppendorf's page at:
http://eshop.eppendorfna.com/documents/download/Userguide_023_Tubes_Tips_Chemical_stability_o_114794_Userguide
If the tubes are generic, you need to find out what they are made of from the supplier, as copolymers could be less resistant.
Or, as they are disposables, just fill one with chloroform and see what happens!
* one PP supplier says it absorbs ~5% by weight, see link.
http://www.propolyamerica.com/Documents/Elliptical/chemicalResistance.pdf
Liquids to which PP or PE (which the eppendorf tubes are made of ) are only conditionally resistant according to the literature such as inorganic acids and various organic acid solvents such as acetone, diethyl ether, chloroform or toluene can be dispensed without a problem. The prerequisite here is that the contact time is minimized, i.e. the plastic is not used for uninterrupted series pipetting, and the liquid is not additionally heated.
Plastic Eppendorf tubes that are actually made by Eppendorf are polypropylene (PP) according to their website. At room temperature PP will absorb some chloroform* and soften, but not lose shape. Hot chloroform will dissolve it. At room temperature, properties are recovered on drying. See Eppendorf's page at:
http://eshop.eppendorfna.com/documents/download/Userguide_023_Tubes_Tips_Chemical_stability_o_114794_Userguide
If the tubes are generic, you need to find out what they are made of from the supplier, as copolymers could be less resistant.
Or, as they are disposables, just fill one with chloroform and see what happens!
* one PP supplier says it absorbs ~5% by weight, see link.
http://www.propolyamerica.com/Documents/Elliptical/chemicalResistance.pdf
The most serious problem with using organic solvents such as chloroform in these tubes is the extraction of organic plasticisers and stabilizers such as phthalates and butylated hyroxytoluene (BHT). If you are performing mass spectrometry on NMR on these extracts, be aware that these contaminants are likely to be present in significant amounts.
There is another issue with PP. Normally, this material requires stabilisers, which may leach out into the solvent. If virgin PP is used for making these tubes, then, obviously, this problem will not arise at all.
Never it can happen. You can check it by yourself. During routine procedures for DNA extraction, phenol-chloroform is used which has never put an negative effect on the Eppendorf tube as far as my experience is concerned.
This will answer your question, if you are using Eppendorf made by polypropylene (PP).
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/polypropylene-pp-chemical-resistance-d_435.html
Hassan Amro B. CH2Cl2 will not melt the Eppendorf tube, same reason as chloroform.
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