Desalted custom synthesized DNA oligos are shipped dried down or hydrated according to your specifications. Synthesis scales up to 1 µmol are shipped the next business day. 5 µmol and 10 µmol scales are shipped within 5 business days.

Every oligo is deprotected and desalted to remove small molecule impurities. Oligos are quantified twice by UV spectrophotometry to provide an accurate measure of yield. Standard oligos are assessed by mass spectrometry for quality control (QC).

IDT Guarantees Quality

IDT has pioneered the use of high throughput quality control methods. We are the only oligonucleotide manufacturer that offers purity guarantees and 100% QC by electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry, ensuring that only the highest quality products are shipped to our customers. We also offer capillary electrophoresis (CE) and analytical HPLC as routine tools for additional QC on purified sequences. In addition to DNA, IDT has led the effort over the last decade to reduce the cost of high-quality custom RNA synthesis. Through improvements to the traditional tert-butyldimethylsilyl (tBDMS) chemistry and advances in instrumentation, IDT has achieved the highest coupling efficiency in the industry. Only at IDT are customers guaranteed the very best in quality synthesis with free mass spectrometry and CE traces on all purified oligos.

DNA Oligonucleotide Resuspension and Storage

IDT recommends resuspension in TE buffer rather than water. Oligonucleotides resuspended in water will have less stability and will have to be shipped on dry ice, which is more costly than standard shipping. Stability studies at IDT have shown that oligonucleotides stored in water at room temperature may show some degradation in as little as 60 days. The same studies showed that oligonucleotides stored dry or in TE at room temperature did not show signs of degradation for at least 7 months.

Starting Scale and Yield

IDT uses a starting scale, referred to as just “scale”, for the amount of initiating nucleotide used to begin oligo synthesis. However, processing steps such as cleavage and deprotection of the oligonucleotide will reduce the final delivery amount (yield). The addition of modifications, purification and length combinations also all affect the final yield of each oligo, which will always be less than the starting scale. The minimum yield guarantee is given in the shopping cart and in the order confirmation email. To receive more final yield, select a larger synthesis scale. More Info ▶

Purification and Yield

Additional purification significantly improves oligonucleotide performance in demanding applications such as multiplex PCR, cloning, mutagenesis, and antisense/RNAi methods. However, purification will always lower oligonucleotide final yield. HPLC routinely provides 85% purity, while PAGE provides 90% purity. The final yield of a PAGE purified oligo, however, will be less than an HPLC purified oligo. For example, a 250 nmole scale 25mer oligo will yield 8X with standard desalt, but only 2X with HPLC purification and 1X with Page purification. More Info ▶

Tools for Oligonucleotide Analysis and Design

IDT provides a number of free oligonucleotide design and analysis tools in the online SciTools® suite. The suite is comprised of tools for designing assay components as well as determining the properties of any sequence entered. Check out the SciTools Suite website at www.idtdna.com/scitools