tetraethylammonium
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Tetraethylammonium (TEA) is a quaternary ammonium cation with the chemical formula , consisting of four ethyl groups (, denoted Et) attached to a central nitrogen atom. It is a counterion used in the research laboratory to prepare lipophilic salts of inorganic anions. It is used similarly to tetrabutylammonium, the difference being that its salts are less lipophilic, more easily crystallized and more toxic.
Research
9,808 papers- Tetraethylammonium bromide.British medical journal · 1948
- [Tetraethylammonium in thrombophlebitis].Prensa medica argentina · 1951
- Tetraethylammonium blockade distinguishes two inactivation mechanisms in voltage-activated K+ channels.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 1991
- Tetraethylammonium chloride in post-herpetic neuralgia.California medicine · 1949
- [Effects of tetraethylammonium].Wiener Zeitschrift fur innere Medizin und ihre Grenzgebiete · 1952
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Encyclopedic overview
9 sectionsContents
- Preparation
- Uses
- Properties
- Biology
- Pharmacology
- Clinical considerations
- Toxicology
- See also
- References
Tetraethylammonium (TEA) is a quaternary ammonium cation with the chemical formula , consisting of four ethyl groups (, denoted Et) attached to a central nitrogen atom. It is a counterion used in the research laboratory to prepare lipophilic salts of inorganic anions. It is used similarly to tetrabutylammonium, the difference being that its salts are less lipophilic, more easily crystallized and more toxic.
Tetraethylammonium is a potassium channel blocker. It inhibits the return to the resting potential of action potentials in neurons by binding to the voltage-gated potassium channels in nerve cell membranes and blocking the passage of potassium ions (responsible for the repolarization of an action potential) out of the neuron.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “tetraethylammonium” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.