DIBMA stands for diisobutylene maleic acid copolymer, and is an extensively researched polymer. The fundamental properties of DIBMA include the absence of light absorption at a wavelength >250 nm, a crucial factor for protein detection via absorbance, and a high resistance to divalent cations.

• Usage: Protein solubilization
• Formula Weight 10000 g/mol
• pH: 7.5 in buffer
• dn/dc: 1.35 M⁻¹
• Solubility: >10% in H₂O
• Absorbance at 280 nm: <0.3 (1% solution)
• Mg²⁺ Tolerance: >50 mM
• Ca²⁺ Tolerance: >50 mM

With diisobutylene-maleic acid (DIBMA), you can directly extract membrane proteins from cells without an intermediate step of detergent solubilization, like with SDS, which would usually interfere with the protein's function. Another advantage of DIBMA as a tool for protein solubilization is the lack of an absorbance maxima at 280 nm. In comparison to SMAs, this would usually interfere with protein quantification, as aromatic amino acids absorb at the same spectrum. PureCube DIBMA is lyophilized from two different buffer solutions (HEPES or TRIS) to ensure a stable pH of 7.5, which is ideal for most protein solubilizations.

One challenge when working with traditional DIBMA is its sensitivity to the presence of ions inside the buffer/media. The reason for this is DIBMA's own charge that lets it interact with these ions. This leads to the precipitation of DIBMA and therefore loss of its function. To overcome this issue, we modified DIBMA to have a reduced charge to reduce the affinity to the ions drastically. This was achieved by adding Glucosamine or an amino-functionalized diol to DIBMA. This modified DIBMA can be used for experiments for which the presence of ions is crucial for their success.