Cartalax is a laboratory designation, not a chemical name. This article is an identity reference for the compound sold under that name: what the sequence is, what mass to expect, how it behaves under reverse-phase HPLC, and how a buyer can confirm that the material in a vial is what the label says. It makes no claim about what the compound does and contains no preparation, handling or dosing guidance.
The sequence behind the name
Cartalax is the tripeptide Ala-Glu-Asp, abbreviated AED. Three residues, all standard L-amino acids, no non-natural substitutions, no terminal modification in the common free-acid form. The average molecular mass of the free acid is approximately 333 g/mol.
That number is worth writing down, because it is the fastest sanity check available. If a supplier publishes a mass-spectrometry trace and the observed mass does not sit at or near 333 for the free acid, either the material is not AED or the salt form has not been declared. Both are worth knowing before the vial is opened.
Why the name is a designation rather than an identifier
Cartalax belongs to a family of short synthetic peptides that circulate under coined names rather than systematic ones. Epithalon (Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly), Chonluten (Glu-Asp-Gly), Livagen (Lys-Glu-Asp-Ala), Pinealon (Glu-Asp-Arg) and Cortagen (Ala-Glu-Asp-Pro) all follow the same convention.
The practical consequence is that the name does not constrain what you receive. Two vendors can both sell “Cartalax” and ship different things if one of them has the sequence wrong, and a purchaser comparing the two on price alone has no way to tell. The sequence printed on the product page — not the trade name — is the identifier that matters, and a supplier who will not print it is telling you something.
How a small polar tripeptide behaves on reverse-phase HPLC
AED is short, and two of its three residues are acidic. That combination makes it very polar, and polar analytes retain poorly on a C18 stationary phase. Cartalax elutes early — often close to the solvent front — where it shares retention space with salts, residual synthesis reagents and other polar impurities.
Three things follow from that. First, a generic gradient designed for longer, more hydrophobic peptides will under-resolve this compound, and the purity figure it produces will be flattering rather than informative. A shallow gradient with a low starting organic percentage does real work here. Second, detection wavelength matters: AED contains no tryptophan, tyrosine or phenylalanine, so it has essentially no absorbance at 280 nm and must be read on the peptide bond at around 214 nm. Third, a purity number quoted without the method is close to meaningless for this class of compound, and more so than for a longer peptide.
What an analysis for Cartalax should show
A useful certificate for this compound reports the column chemistry and dimensions, the mobile phase and gradient, the detection wavelength, the retention time, the integrated peak area with the integration window visible, and a mass confirmation. It also states net peptide content separately from chromatographic purity, and it names the counter-ion.
That last point catches people out on short peptides more than on long ones. A trifluoroacetate salt of a 333 g/mol peptide carries proportionally far more counter-ion mass than the same salt on a 3,000 g/mol peptide, so the gap between “99% pure by HPLC” and the actual quantity of peptide in the vial is widest exactly where the peptide is smallest. Purity and content are two different numbers and only one of them tells you how much material you bought.
Confirming identity independently
Search on the sequence, not the designation. Public chemical databases index these compounds by structure and by sequence far more reliably than by trade name, and a sequence search will tell you quickly whether the name and the structure a vendor is pairing together are the pairing everyone else uses. Our product pages carry compound identity links that query those databases directly.
How Cartalax is supplied here
Cartalax 20mg is supplied as a lyophilised powder in a sealed vial, with an independent reverse-phase HPLC analysis published on the product page along with net peptide content, counter-ion form and vial size. Vials carry no batch or lot numbers; each vial is matched to its published test by crimp and cap colour. Products are tested and the results posted per product rather than per shipment.
Frequently asked questions
What is the amino acid sequence of Cartalax?
Ala-Glu-Asp (AED), a tripeptide of three standard L-amino acids.
Is Cartalax the same as Epithalon?
No. Epithalon is Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly, a tetrapeptide. Cartalax is the same first three residues without the terminal glycine. They are different compounds with different masses and different retention behaviour, and a certificate for one is not evidence about the other.
What molecular weight should I expect?
Approximately 333 g/mol for the free acid. A salt form will read higher, which is why the counter-ion has to be declared alongside the mass.
Why does Cartalax elute so early on HPLC?
Because it is small and strongly polar, with two acidic residues out of three, so it interacts weakly with a reverse-phase column. Early elution near the solvent front is expected behaviour for this compound and is not by itself a sign of a problem — but it does mean the method has to be chosen to separate it properly.
Do the vials carry a lot number?
No. There are no batch or lot identifiers on the label. Vials are matched to their published test by crimp and cap colour.
Research use only. All products supplied by Battle Born Peptides are laboratory reference materials for in-vitro research and analytical use by qualified professionals. They are not drugs, foods, dietary supplements, cosmetics or medical devices; they are not approved by the FDA or any other regulator for use in humans or animals; and they are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate or prevent any disease, or to affect the structure or any function of the body of humans or animals. Nothing in this article is preparation, handling or dosing guidance. See our full research-use terms.