Summary
Alcian blue and related copper phthalocyanin dyes carrying cationic charges on substituent aliphatic groups are metachromatic. The unperturbed “orthochromatic” molecules are easily observed in non-protic solvents of moderately high dielectric constant e. g. dimethyl sulphoxide. Metachromasia is the result of mutual interactions between chromophores. The Alcian blues are aggregated and metachromatic in water at molar concentrations one hundredth those at which toluidine blue is mainly orthochromatic. The relevance of Alcian blue aggregation to the speed of staining, its use in critical electrolyte concentration techniques, and in microspectrophotometry, is considered.
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Scott, J.E. Histochemistry of Alcian blue. Histochemie 21, 277–285 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00304219
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00304219