Denaturant (Noun)
Meaning
Any substance that serves as a denaturing agent.
Classification
Nouns denoting substances.
Examples
- The denaturant added to industrial ethanol prevents the alcohol from being taxed as a beverage and makes it undrinkable.
- Formaldehyde is a common denaturant used in nail hardening products to prevent over-manicuring.
- In organic chemistry, urea is often used as a denaturant to disrupt the structure of proteins.
- The addition of methanol as a denaturant in laboratory solvents helps prevent their use as intoxicating beverages.
- The use of a denaturant such as guanidine hydrochloride is necessary to disrupt the quaternary structure of proteins during certain experiments.