What is dmso

dmso is dimethyl sulfoxide, a sulfur-containing organic compound, at room temperature is colorless odorless transparent liquid, is a hygroscopic flammable liquid. Dimethyl sulfoxide has high polarity, high boiling point, good thermal stability, aprotic, miscible with water characteristics, can dissolve in ethanol, propanol, benzene and chloroform and other most organic matter, known as a universal solvent.

Why “Universal” solvent “universal”
Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is a hydrogen bond breaker. It is a sulfur-containing organic compound, colorless odorless transparent liquid at room temperature, is a kind of hypersonic flammable liquid, with high polarity, high boiling point, good thermal stability, aprotic, miscible with water characteristics, can dissolve in ethanol, propanol, benzene and chloroform and other most organic matter, known as “universal” solvent.
How “Universal” solvent “Universal”
● Widely used in oil processing
The freezing point of pure dimethyl sulfoxide is 18.45 degrees Celsius, and the dimethyl sulfoxide with 40% water is not frozen at minus 60 degrees Celsius, and the dimethyl sulfoxide will release heat when mixed with water and snow. This property makes dimethyl sulfoxide can be used as automotive antifreeze, brake oil, hydraulic fluid components. Ethylene glycol antifreeze is no longer suitable at temperatures below minus 40 degrees Celsius, and has a lower boiling point than dimethyl sulfoxide, is toxic, and is prone to gas resistance. Dimethyl sulfoxide antifreeze can be used in cold areas as deicing agent, paint, latex antifreeze, gasoline aviation antifreeze, and bone marrow blood cryogenic preservation antifreeze.
In addition, dimethyl sulfoxide can also be used in food wax, edible white oil refining, cancer detection, petroleum gas acetylene recovery, dissolved acetylene production, lubricating oil and diesel refining, ferrocene production reaction solvent, nitroalkanes production. At present, new uses of DSO are still being developed.
● Frozen cells are also good
Dimethyl sulfoxide (DSO) is the best protective agent for cell cryopreservation. In the process of cryopreservation at low temperature (minus 200 degrees Celsius), the use of dimethyl sulfoxide cryoprotectants can prevent the formation of liquid ice crystals, osmotic pressure changes, and cell structure disorders.
Dimethyl sulfoxide can quickly penetrate the cell membrane into the cell, reduce the freezing point, delay the frozen storage process, and increase the concentration of intracellular ions, reduce the formation of intracellular ice crystals, thereby reducing cell damage, and is currently widely used as a cell cryoprotective agent.
● “Spinning” synthetic fibers
In acrylic fiber spinning, acrylonitrile is polymerized in dimethyl sulfoxide, and can be directly spun in water bath without separation to obtain bulky, soft and easy to dye artificial wool. Its advantages are simplified process, high solubility, high solvent boiling point, non-toxic, easy recovery, good product performance, low cost.
At present, some acrylic plants in Shanxi Yuzi, Dalian Liaoning and Beijing use this process for production, and in recent years, it has also been applied in the production of carbon fiber with polypropionitrile. Dimethyl sulfoxide is also used in the production of polyester resin abroad, and it is also used in the production of chlorylon.
● “Universal” solvent or “universal drug”
Dimethyl sulfoxide has solution and permeability for many drugs, and itself has anti-inflammatory, analgesic, promoting blood circulation and wound healing, diuretic, dosing and other effects, which can increase drug absorption and improve curative effect, so it is known as a “panacea” in foreign countries.
In the 1960s, a number of drug testing centers conducted comprehensive toxicological tests and pathological autopsies on dimethyl sulfoxide, and it was clear that the dimethyl sulfoxide produced in China was non-toxic. At that time, 160 medical units such as Peking Union Medical College Hospital carried out clinical trials and opened special clinics in Benxi, accumulating a large amount of data. Practice has proved that dimethylsulfoxide has curative effect on neurodermatitis, psoriasis, arthritis, bursitis, folliculitis, rheumatoid disease, otitis media, rhinitis, appendicitis, toothache, zoster, hemorrhoids, sprain, lumbar muscle strain, burn, trauma and so on. At present, dimethyl sulfoxide has been widely used in the production of guyou ling, beriberi medicine, skin hydropine ointment and other external drugs and external preparations in major hospitals, in addition to traditional Chinese medicine extraction preparations, treatment of animal parasitic diseases.
In addition to a wide range of uses, a variety of drugs dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide, without oral and injection, coated on the skin can penetrate into the body, opening up a new way of drug delivery, more importantly, improve the local drug content in the disease area, reduce the harm of drugs to other parts of the body.
Foreign studies believe that cancer cells have a protective layer of cutin, which prevents the entry of drugs, and dimethyl sulfoxide has the ability to dissolve and penetrate diagonal substances, so it can improve the efficacy of drugs. Beijing Institute of Materia Medica has carried out experiments, and achieved good curative effect, and significantly inhibited tumor growth.
In addition to the above main uses, DSO is also used in the electronics industry, pesticide fertilizer, dye coatings, gas separation, synthetic resin, rare metal wet smelting and other fields, as an organic solvent, reaction medium and organic synthesis intermediates for application, can be said to be a veritable “universal” product.