Digitonin

  Digitonin is a glycoside obtained from Digitalis purpurea; the aglycone is digitogenin. Used as a detergent, it effectively water-solubilizes lipids. As such, it has several membrane-related applications in biochemistry, including solubilizing membrane proteins, precipitating cholesterol, and permeabilizing cell membranes.

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Digitonin is sometimes confused with the cardiac drug digoxin (sometimes also called digitalis or digitoxin), but has no heart-related effects.

Physical & Chemical Properties

Chemical Formula= C₅₆H₉₂O₂₉
Molecular Weight= 1229.3
Appearance = White to off-white powder
Boiling Point/Melting Point= 230 °C to 240 °C
Specific Rotation= -47 TO -49º (10 g/100 ml 75% Acetic Acid at 25 °C)1
Aggregation number = 60.

Biological Properties

Rat-LD₅₀ : 4 mg/kg body weight