Betaine Property

Melting point:

310 °C (dec.)

Boiling point:

218.95°C (rough estimate)

Density 

1.00 g/mL at 20 °C

vapor pressure 

0.05Pa at 25℃

refractive index 

1.4206 (estimate)

FEMA 

4223 | BETAINE

storage temp. 

2-8°C

solubility 

methanol: 0.1 g/mL, clear

form 

Crystals or Crystalline Powder

pka

1.83(at 0℃)

color 

colorless

Odor

bland

Water Solubility 

160 g/100 mL

Sensitive 

Hygroscopic

Merck 

14,1179

BRN 

3537113

Stability:

Stable. Hygroscopic. Incompatible with strong oxidizing agents.

InChIKey

KWIUHFFTVRNATP-UHFFFAOYSA-N

LogP

-3.1 at 20℃

CAS DataBase Reference

107-43-7(CAS DataBase Reference)

NIST Chemistry Reference

Methanaminium, 1-carboxy-n,n,n-trimethyl-, hydroxide, inner salt(107-43-7)

EPA Substance Registry System

Betaine (107-43-7)

Safety

Hazard Codes 

Xn

Risk Statements 

20/21/22-36/37/38

Safety Statements 

24/25-36-26

WGK Germany 

3

RTECS 

DS5900000

F 

3-10

TSCA 

Yes

HS Code 

29239000

Hazardous Substances Data

107-43-7(Hazardous Substances Data)

Hazard and Precautionary Statements (GHS)

Betaine Chemical Properties,Usage,Production

Physical and Chemical Properties

Betaine is also known as trimethylamine, and is the quaternary ammonium derivatives of glycine and a class of N-methyl-compound or trimethyl inner salt after the hydrogen of the amino group being substituted by the methyl group. Common kinds include glycyl betaine, β-alanyl-betaine and prolyl-betaine. We can obtain prismatic crystals or leaf-shaped crystals from ethanol, is sweet taste, and deliquescent. Melting point: 293 °C; it will decomposed at 300 °C. It is soluble in water, methanol and ethanol, but insoluble in ether, and can be isomerized into dimethylamino methyl acetate at the melting point. We can obtain its monohydrate crystal from the aqueous solution of the free acid HO-N (CH3) 3-CH2COOH which generates betaine upon dehydration at 100 °C, and is stable in acid. It can obtain trimethylamine upon reaction with concentrated aqueous potassium hydroxide and can have Maillard reaction with sugar (browning reaction). It is presented in plant such as cottonseed and beetroot as well as in animal substance such as barbed shark meat and crab refined juice. It can be recycled from the mother liquor of beet sugar. It may also be obtained from the methylation reaction of amino acetate or the reaction between chloroacetate with trimethylamine. Clinically it is used in combination with N-amidino glycine for treatment of myasthenia gravis. In analytic chemistry, it can also be used as the reagent for identifying gold. This product is the amphoteric surfactants of betaine used as a leveling agent for vat dyes dying. Drought or salt stress, many plants can accumulate betaine inside their body and become a major organic solutes for osmotic adjustment and have a further protective effect on cell membrane and cellular proteins.
The above information is edited by the Chemicalbook of Dai Xiongfeng.

Feed additives

Betaine is a natural compound, and belonging to a kind of quaternary ammonium alkaloids. The name of this substance is because of that it is first extracted from sugar beet. It has been over 50 years since it has been used as a feed additive. It has attracted much attention due to its important of in protein metabolism and lipid metabolism of animals, and has been widely applied. Adding to the chicken feed can increase the amount of broiler carcass quality and chest quantity and also improve the food palatability and utilization rate. Increased feed intake and daily gain is the main component of palatability of aquatic attractant. It can also improve the feed rate of piglet, and thus promoting its growth. It has another important feature as a kind of osmotic pressure regulator which can alleviate the stress of gastrointestinal and increase the viability of juvenile shrimp and fish seedlings under the variation of various stress conditions, such as: cold, heat, disease, and weaning in living conditions. Betaine has a protective effect on the stability of VA and VB and can further improve their application efficacy without having the irritation effect of betaine hydrochloride at the same time.

Efficient active methyl donor

Betaine is widely presented in plants and animals with beet containing the highest content among plants. In animal body, betaine is acted as a highly active methyl donor which plays a important role in regulating the metabolism of methyl group, and can partially substitute the methionine and choline, and thus promoting fat metabolism, improving feed palatability, alleviating heat stress, regulating the osmotic pressure of the body, and maintaining the stability of the vitamin premix for improving farming efficiency.
Inside animal bodies, betaine provide methyl group to cysteine, generating methionine which is further converted into S-adenosine methionine, and further transferring methyl group then to DNA, RNA, protein, creatine, lipids and other important methyl-containing ingredients. Methyl group is very unstable and can’t be synthesized by animals themselves but can only rely on food supply. The efficiency of betaine of providing methyl group is 1.2 times as high as choline chloride, and 3.8 times as high as methionine. Choline itself can’t act as a methyl donor which must be first transported to the mitochondria for oxidation into betaine and finally released into the cytoplasm before being able to act as a methyl donor. Studies have shown: Adding 1.25 kg of this product at per ton of pig feed has no effect on growth, development and feed efficiency, but causing 15% decrease in back fat content and increasing the tenderloin quantity in cross-sectional area, improving carcass meat; adding betaine to chicken feed can reduce the necessary amount of dietary methionine. During the initial phase of broiler feed, adding 750 g of betaine pre ton of feed can substitute 1.5 kg of methionine, and adding 450 g of betaine can substitute 1 kg of methionine during the latter phase. Betaine also has effects on prevention and treatment of fatty liver of pigs, chickens and fish.

Chemical Properties

It is colorless crystals or white crystalline powder, odorless, and has a sweet taste. Melting point: 293 °C (decomposition). It is highly deliquescent. 1g of this product can be dissolved in 0.63 g of water, 1.8g of methanol, and 11.5g of ethanol. It is slightly soluble in ether. Concentrated alkaline can lead to its decomposition and release of trimethylamine. Male rats: orally LD50:11.2g/kg, female rats by oral LD50:11.15g/kg.

Uses

1. Adding betaine to the feed has protective effects on the vitamins contained in the feed, also makes feed be tolerable to high temperature and can subject to long-term storage, and thus greatly improving feed utilization rate as well as reducing the costs. Adding 0.05% betaine to the chicken feed can substitute 0.1% methionine; adding betaine to the bait have palatability effect on both fishes and shrimp, thus betaine can be used as the swelling agent of aquatic product in large amount. Adding betaine to the pig feed added betaine can increase the appetite of pigs and increase the rate of lean meat. 1kg Betaine is equivalent to 3.5kg of methionine. The ability to provide methyl of betaine is 1.2 times as strong as that of choline chloride, and 3.8 times as strong as that of methionine with a very significant feed efficiency.
2. It is used as betaine type amphoteric surfactants, also used as leveling agent of dye vat dyes.
3. It can be used as feed grade anhydrous betaine for being as a feed additive. It is a natural and efficient methyl donor which can partially substitute methionine and choline chloride, lower the feed costs, reduce back-fat of pig, and increase the rate lean meat and carcass quality.
4. It can be used for lowering blood pressure, anti-fatty liver and anti-aging.
5. It can be used as a feed additive for promoting animal growth and increased disease resistance.

Production method

It is recycled from beet sugar mother liquor, and can also be used for synthetic production.
1. Extraction method. The mother liquor of beet sugar contains 12%-15% of the betaine, which can directly used for recycle. Heat 300 parts of the mother liquor to 50 °C, add 80 parts of calcium chloride, stir and filter while hot for a certain time. The filtrate was acidified with hydrochloric acid after cooling for crystallization at 20-30 °C, after separation, dry to obtain 30 parts of betaine.
2. Synthesis method through the quaternization between chloroacetate and trimethylamine.
Use 16% sodium hydroxide solution for neutralization of 195 parts of 48.6% aqueous solution of chloroacetate into sodium chloroacetate and then mix with 360 parts of 16.4% trimethylamine for ventilation at 50 °C for 1h, then ventilate at 80 °C for 1 h. The reaction was diluted and further adhered by ion exchange resin (Dowex-50-8) with ammonia elution to obtain the betaine solution. It further undergoes vacuum concentration and crystallization to obtain the final product.

Chemical Properties

White cryst. powder

Chemical Properties

White crystalline powder; bland aroma.

Uses

Betaine is an active ingredient in toothpaste to control the symptoms of dryness of the mouth. It is used to treat homocystinuria, which is a defect in the major pathway of methionine biosynthesis. It is also used for boosting the immune system and for improving athletic performance. It is helpful to prevent noncancerous tumors in the colon (colorectal adenomas).

Uses

Betaine has been used to study the effects of antioxidants on regrowth from cryopreservation.

Uses

betaine is a surfactant, humectant, and excellent skin conditioner. It is also used to build product viscosity and as a foam booster. It is found mostly in skin cleansers, shampoos, and bath products.

Definition

ChEBI: The amino acid betaine derived from glycine.

General Description

Betaine also called trimethylglycine or N,N,N triethylammonium acetate, is an analog of glycine with three methyl groups. It is highly compatible with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) buffer mixture. Betaine is a PCR enhancing reagent that is widely used for improving the yield and specificity of PCR products, especially during the PCR amplification of targets rich in GC content or those that form secondary structures resulting in poor yield. Betaine facilitates DNA strand separation and manages the DNA melting temperature (Tm) difference between the GC and AT pairs in DNA. It stabilizes the ds DNA by equalizing the contribution of GC- and AT-base pairs. Betaine has been broadly used to optimize multiplex and ‘long and accurate′ polymerase chain reaction (LA-PCR). The addition of 1.0-1.7 M aqueous betaine to a PCR mixture has been reported to reduce the base pair composition dependence on DNA strand melting.

Flammability and Explosibility

Non flammable

Biochem/physiol Actions

End-product of oxidative metabolism of choline, betaine is a general methyl donor, in particular in a minor pathway of methionine biosynthesis. It is used to treat homocystinuria, which is a defect in the major pathway of methionine biosynthesis.

Purification Methods

Crystallise betaine from aqueous EtOH or EtOH/Et2O. The monohydrate loses H2O above 100o. Betaine undergoes internal alkylation to methyl dimethylaminoacetate Purification of Biochemicals — Amino Acids and Peptides above its melting point. It is also prepared by treating the hydrochloride (below) with silver oxide and recrystallising from EtOH/Et2O. [Edsall J Am Chem Soc 66 1767 1943, Leifer & Lippincott J Am Chem Soc 79 5098 1957, for pK see Grob et al. Chem and Ind (London) 1222 1955, Beilstein 4 III 1127, 4 IV 2369.]