Chelating agents are organic compounds capable of linking together metal ions to form complex ring-like structures called chelates. They are also known as chelants, chelators, or sequestering agents. What Are Natural Chelating Agents? Citric, malic, lactic, and tartaric acids and certain amino acids are naturally occurring chelating agents, but they are not as powerful as EDTA. The EDTA (ethylene-diamine-tetraacetic acid) molecule is a chelating agent widely used in molecular biology to sequester divalent and trivalent metal ions such as calcium and magnesium. What Is a Typical Chelating Agent? An example of a simple chelating agent is ethylenediamine. A single molecule of ethylenediamine can form two bonds to a transition-metal ion…