The new Anatrace Neopentyl Glycol (NG) class detergents are revolutionary new amphiphiles. NG class detergents are a more effective detergent for extracting and solubilizing/stabilizing proteins, and are particularly beneficial in the crystallization process due to some unique properties conferred by a revolutionary new architecture. The amphiphilic molecule consists of a central quaternary carbon with two hydrophilic heads and two lypophilic tails, generating subtle constraints on overall conformational flexibility that allows the molecule to pack densely when forming a micelle. This dense packing increases thermal stability of the detergent/protein complex and most importantly, produces exceptionally low critical micelle concentrations and extreme water solubility.

Most significantly, the Neopentyl Glycol amphiphiles are substitute products for three of today’s most popular detergents: lauryl maltoside (dodecyl maltoside), octyl glucoside and decyl maltoside. There are remarkable differences in CMC between the new NG class and their counterparts, where approximately 17-fold less of the NG class detergent achieves the same critical micelle concentration as the equivalent maltoside or glucoside. Presumably, this results from the larger total hydrophobic surface of this new class of amphiphiles