4,5- Dibromo fluorescein

4,5-Dibromofluorescein (DBF) is an orange powder and is known as fluorescent dye or a fluorone dye.  TriStains^® Biological Stains that offer range of stains used in Histology, Cytology, Microbiology and Hematology laboratories. TriStains^® meet the highest quality standards and give excellent color performance. TriStains^® series products are carefully tested to ensure accurate, reliable, and reproducible results. In this blog, we are going to explore its properties, production methods, uses or applications and safety consideration.

What is 4,5-Dibromofluorescein?

4′,5′-Dibromofluorescein is a fluorescent dye that absorbs light at 370 nm and emits light at 480 nm. It is an orange color powder that can be used in Color Additives. 4,5-Dibromofluorescein belongs to the xanthene dye family and has a complex chemical structure. It consists of a xanthene core with two bromine atoms substituted at positions 4 and 5. It is widely used in medicines and cosmetics coloring.

Its Molecular Formula is C20H10Br2O5. It is also known by other names e.g., 4,5-dibromo-3,6-fluorandiol; Eosinic acid; Solvent Red 72. It has a molecular weight of 490.1 g/mol and has a melting point of approximately 270- 273 °C.

It can be used as an indicator for pH measurements, with a peak emission at 517 nm when excited at 494 nm. It is also used as a diagnostic agent for the detection of human serum in analytical chemistry. This dye has a high fluorescence lifetime, which allows it to be detected by an optical sensor with high sensitivity.

TriStains^®  4,5- Dibromo fluorescein is an orange or red powder substance which is a fluorescent dye. It is slightly soluble in water and give orange with faint yellow fluorescence, soluble in ethanol and give orange with greenish-yellow fluorescence and in acetone it will give pink with yellow fluorescence, Red-yellow solution in concentrated H2SO4, turning yellow-brown with orange precipitation on dilution.

Dye aqueous solution to join sodium hydroxide as red edge; In the glycerol and liquid paraffin in good dispersibility.

It can act as a pH indicator due to its color change in response to changes in pH levels. It appears yellow at low pH values and turns pink or red in alkaline conditions. This property makes it useful in analytical chemistry, especially for pH titrations and colorimetric pH measurements.

• Fluorone dyes are hydroxyl-xanthene dyes (homologues of fluorescein) and have been the most widely used class of organic fluorophores for labeling and sensing biomolecules.
• DBF is routinely used as a ligand for studying the properties of protein using spectral analysis.
• It also has chemotherapeutic properties and can be used in the treatment of cancer cells, such as erythrosine-resistant leukemia cells.
• It is widely used as a biological stain in histology and microscopy. It is commonly employed to stain and visualize various cellular components, such as collagen fibers, connective tissues, and mucopolysaccharides.
• 4′,5′-Dibromofluorescein is also used in Cosmetics.
• It is also utilized in the production of inks, especially in the printing industry. It can be incorporated into various types of inks, including water-based and solvent-based inks, for applications such as offset printing and inkjet printing.
• Eosin Y has been used as a dye in the textile industry. Its vibrant red color makes it suitable for dyeing natural and synthetic fibers, imparting bright and intense shades.
•  It is employed as a sensitizer in the field of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). It enhances the absorption of light and improves the efficiency of light harvesting in these photovoltaic devices.