A Reagent for Reduction of Disulfide Bonds in Proteins That Reduces Disulfide Bonds Faster Than Does Dithiothreitol

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jo00007a018

We have synthesized a new reagent - N,N'-dimethyl-N,N'-bis(mercaptoacetyl)hydrazine (DMH) - for the reduction of disulfide bonds in proteins.DMH reduces disulfide bonds 7 times faster than does dithiothreitol (DTT) in water at pH 7.DMH reduces mixed disulfides of cysteine proteases (papain and ficin) especially rapidly (30 times faster than DTT).DMH (ε⁰ = -0.300 V) reduces noncyclic disulfides completely, although it is less strongly reducing than DTT (ε⁰ = -0.356 V).