Tris HCL is commonly known as an acidic buffer. But can we say TRIS buffer as an amino acid buffer? Amino acids are defined as an organic compound that contains amine and carboxyl functional groups, along with a side chain that is specific to each amino acid. But TRIS does not have a COOH attached to it. So which group of the buffer does TRIS belong to?
It's a cationic, basic, amine buffer because the buffering agent tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Tris) is a cation, the cationic part is the amino group, and the compound itself is a base with a pKa of 8.1. It is not an amino acid, as you pointed out. Tris-HCl is Tris base that has been neutralized with HCl.
Tris HCl has no carboxylate group, thus is not an amino acid buffer. The Tris-Tris HCl buffering system has an effective pH range between 7.1 and 9.1 at room temperature so the system operates on the basic side of neutrality.
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