[1] Crosslinkers are chemical reagents that play a crucial role in the preparation of conjugates used in biological research particularly immuno-technologies and protein studies.

[3] Water-soluble: BS3 is hydrophilic due to its terminal sulfonyl substituents and as a result dissociates in water, eliminating the need to use organic solvents which interfere with protein structure and function.

[4] Because organic solvents need not be used when BS3 is used as the crosslinker, it is ideal for investigations into protein structure and function in physiologic conditions.

[13] Thus, "heavy" and "light" crosslinker analogs can be used for isotopically labeling protein and peptides in mass spectrometry research applications.

[17] Due to the hydrophobic nature of this crosslinker it must be dissolved in an organic solvent such as dimethylsulfoxide before being added to an aqueous sample.