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Merck
CN

94448

Gram′s crystal violet solution

suitable for microscopy

Synonym(s):

Basic violet 3; gentian violet; hexamethyl pararosaniline; methyl violet 10B

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About This Item

NACRES:
MA.02
UNSPSC Code:
12171500

Key Documents

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Product Name

Gram′s crystal violet solution, suitable for microscopy

product line

BioChemika

form

liquid

shelf life

limited shelf life, expiry date on the label

technique(s)

microbe id | staining: suitable

color

purple to very dark purple

density

0.981 g/mL at 20 °C

εmax

33.8 at 585-595 nm in water

suitability

suitable for microscopy
suitable for microscopy

antibiotic activity spectrum

Gram-negative bacteria
Gram-positive bacteria

application(s)

diagnostic assay manufacturing
hematology
histology

storage temp.

room temp

Quality Level

200

Related Categories

Application

  • Crystal violet is routinely used for Gram staining and its variants, staining amyloid, bacterial components, and vascular plant tissues.
  • It is used in polychrome staining of epoxy resin sections, viability staining of cultured neurons, and confocal optical sectioning to analyze meiotic structures.
  • It is also employed in the acridine orange-crystal violet staining of intracellular bacteria, microsporidian spores, and cytological smears.

Biochem/physiol Actions

Crystal violet is the primary stain in Gram staining. It infiltrates the peptidoglycan-rich cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria, and forms complexes with Gram’s iodine that are entrapped and retain the purple color even after decolorization. Thus, Gram-positive bacteria can be differentiated from Gram-negative bacteria whose peptidoglycan layer is considerably thinner and does not retain crystal violet.
The antimicrobial effects of crystal violet are caused by free radical generation and the formation of unionized dye-bacteria complexes. It also inhibits bacterial protein synthesis and cell wall formation and is especially effective against Gram-positive bacteria.

General description

Gram’s crystal violet solution, also known as gentian violet or hexamethyl pararosaniline, is a basic, cationic, acidotropic aminoarylmethane dye. It is a hexa-N-methylated triaminotriphenylmethane with a moderately sized lipophilic cation and a slightly nonplanar conjugated system. It is used in bacteriology as the primary stain in Gram staining to differentiate Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. It is known to possess antibacterial and antifungal properties.

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Warning

Hazard Classifications

Aquatic Chronic 3 - Carc. 2 - Eye Irrit. 2 - Flam. Liq. 3

Storage Class

3 - Flammable liquids

wgk

WGK 2

flash_point_f

93.2 °F

flash_point_c

34 °C

ppe

Eyeshields, Faceshields, Gloves, type ABEK (EN14387) respirator filter

Regulatory Information

危险化学品
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Certificates of Analysis (COA)

Lot/Batch Number
BCCN6210
BCCM6957
BCCL8948
BCCK2162
BCCL0880

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