Chemical Properties
clear colourless to yellowish liquid after melting
Uses
A compound suitable for amino acid analysis by means of OPA
Uses
3-Mercaptopropionic acid is widely used in food and beverage industries as a flavoring agent. It is used in the production of PVC stabilizers, which are used as chain transfer agents in polymerizations. It can be used as primary or secondary, color stabilizer in combination with phenolic antioxidant for polymers. It acts as a sulfide ion equivalent and is utilized in the preparation of diaryl sulfide from aryl iodide.
Definition
ChEBI: A mercaptopropanoic acid that is propanoic acid carrying a sulfanyl group at position 3.
General Description
3-Mercaptopropionic acid (3-MPA) is used as a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) with a thiol and carboxylic groups. It has short carbon chains and is mainly used as a capping agent on a variety of nanoparticles.
Biological Activity
3-Mercaptopropionic acid is a blocking drug that causes an increase in sleep and a decrease in wakefulness. A related finding is that nipecotic acid also increases the time needed for isoflurane to induce loss of consciousness, whereas 3-mercaptopropionic acid decreases anesthesia induction time[1].
References
[1] Thakkar, M. and R. McCarley. “Neurochemistry of Sleep and Wakefulness: Histamine in the control of sleep–wakefulness.”Basic Neurochemistry (Eighth Edition) (2012).
