General descriptionNeutral red (C.l. 50040, Cl Basic red 5) is a protonated diaminophenazine dye that has a small planar conjugated system.
ApplicationNeutral red has been used in several histological staining applications that include:
- as a nuclear stain
- as a counterstain in the Gram procedure, either alone, or as a component of the Twort stain, a fast green-neutral red mixture.
- fluorescent staining of nucleic acids in nervous tissue, of lipids and hydrophobic substances such as suberin and of phenolic compounds in algal cell walls
- detection of viable yeast cells in dandruff samples and of mussel larvae
- Neutral red has also been used as a stain in flow cytometry.
Useful as an indicator for preparing neutral red paper, and as a biological stain.
Preparation NotePurified