Merocyanine
Encyclopedia
Merocyanines are a class of fluorescent dye
s typified by merocycanine I.
These dyes are usually intensely colored and have large extinction coefficients.
Merocyanine 540 was the first fluorescent dye used for measuring membrane potential
, while Brooker's merocyanine
and related compounds are notable for their solvatochromatic
properties.
Dye
A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....
s typified by merocycanine I.
These dyes are usually intensely colored and have large extinction coefficients.
Merocyanine 540 was the first fluorescent dye used for measuring membrane potential
Membrane potential
Membrane potential is the difference in electrical potential between the interior and exterior of a biological cell. All animal cells are surrounded by a plasma membrane composed of a lipid bilayer with a variety of types of proteins embedded in it...
, while Brooker's merocyanine
Brooker's merocyanine
Brooker's merocyanine is an organic dye belonging to the class of merocyanines....
and related compounds are notable for their solvatochromatic
Solvatochromism
Solvatochromism is the ability of a chemical substance to change color due to a change in solvent polarity. Negative solvatochromism corresponds to hypsochromic shift with increasing solvent polarity and positive solvatochromism corresponds to bathochromic shift with increasing solvent polarity...
properties.
