5M Potassium acetate, pH 7.5 9.0, is supplied by HiMedia. It is available in the form of a colourless solution with a pH in the range of 7.5 9.0. 5M Potassium acetate solution is sterile and its pH is adjusted with acetic acid. It is widely used in molecular biology for the purification of plasmid DNA during alkaline lysis method. In addition, it can be readily used for various molecular biology applications. It is advisable to store this product room temperature (15-25C).

Potassium acetate is the potassium salt of acetic acid. It is prepared by the reaction of a potassium containing base e.g. potassium hydroxide or potassium carbonate with acetic acid. 5M Potassium acetate is a very common buffer used in molecular biology. It is mainly used as a salt for the ethanol precipitation of DNA during alkaline lysis method. It is also used in the isolation of DNA from soil samples and during the isolation of mammalian DNA. This solution is also used to precipitate dodecyl sulfate (DS) and DS-bound proteins, allowing the removal of proteins from DNA.