[3] In medicine, tromethamine is occasionally used as a drug, given in intensive care for its properties as a buffer for the treatment of severe metabolic acidosis in specific circumstances.

[6] In 2023 a strain of Pseudomonas hunanensis was found to be able to degrade TRIS buffer.

Tris is prepared industrially by the exhaustive condensation of nitromethane with formaldehyde under basic conditions (i.e. repeated Henry reactions) to produce the intermediate (HOCH2)3CNO2, which is subsequently hydrogenated to give the final product.

This, and its low cost, make tris one of the most common buffers in the biology/biochemistry laboratory.

[15] Tris (usually known as THAM in this context) is used as alternative to sodium bicarbonate in the treatment of metabolic acidosis.