title: Nile Red and Nile Blue: Applications and Syntheses of Structural Analogues.
abstract: Nile red and Nile blue are highly fluorescent and photostable organic dyes from the benzo[a]phenoxazine family. They have been used as histological stains for imaging lysosomes and lipids in vitro. The dyes' high quantum yields and solvent-dependent optical properties make them ideal scaffolds for the development of pH probes and local polarity indicators. Reviews of the literature in this area are scarce with only one review ever published in 2006. It has been 10 years since and the field has evolved. This review aims to expand upon topics covered by the previous reviewers and to report on recent advances in the literature. As authors, we hope to convey a sense of scope and to spark renewed interest in this useful niche of dye chemistry.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, 30302, USA.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, 30302, USA. mhenary1@gsu.edu.
authors.forename: Maged
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Henary
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000379:methods; D060326:Chemistry Techniques, Synthetic / Q000379:methods*; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D061848:Optical Imaging / Q000379:methods; D010078:Oxazines / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D010078:Oxazines; C008619:Nile Blue; C044808:nile red
keywords: Nile blue; Nile red; benzophenoxazine; dyes; fluorescent