Nile red

Nile red

Names
IUPAC name 9-diethylamino-5-benzo[α]phenoxazinone
Other names Nile red, Nile blue oxazone
Identifiers
CAS Number	7385-67-3 N
3D model (Jmol)	Interactive image
ChEBI	CHEBI:52169 Y
ChEMBL	ChEMBL144472 Y
ChemSpider	58681 Y
ECHA InfoCard	100.028.151
PubChem	65182
InChI InChI=1S/C20H18N2O2/c1-3-22(4-2)13-9-10-16-18(11-13)24-19-12-17(23)14-7-5-6-8-15(14)20(19)21-16/h5-12H,3-4H2,1-2H3 Y Key: VOFUROIFQGPCGE-UHFFFAOYSA-N Y InChI=1/C20H18N2O2/c1-3-22(4-2)13-9-10-16-18(11-13)24-19-12-17(23)14-7-5-6-8-15(14)20(19)21-16/h5-12H,3-4H2,1-2H3 Key: VOFUROIFQGPCGE-UHFFFAOYAM
SMILES CCN(CC)c1ccc2c(c1)oc-3cc(=O)c4ccccc4c3n2
Properties
Chemical formula	C20H18N2O2
Molar mass	318.369 g/mol
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
N  (what is YN ?)
Infobox references

Nile red (also known as Nile blue oxazone) is a lipophilic stain. It is produced by boiling a solution of Nile blue with sulfuric acid. As can be seen from the structural formulae, this process replaces an iminium group with a carbonyl group. Nile red stains intracellular lipid droplets yellow. In most polar solvents Nile Red will not fluoresce, however when in a lipid-rich environment can be intensely fluorescent, with varying colours from deep red (for polar membrane lipid) to strong yellow-gold emission (for neutral lipid in intracellular storages). The dye is highly and its emission and excitation wavelength both shift depending on solvent polarity and in polar media will hardly fluoresce at all.

Nile red has applications in cell biology, where it can be used as a membrane dye which can be readily visualised using an epifluorescence microscope with excitation and emission wavelengths usually shared with RFP.

Historically, Nile Red was prepared by acid hydrolysis of the dye Nile Blue. Alternatively, Nile Red and its analogues (naphthooxazine dyes) can be prepared by acid-catalyzed condensation of corresponding 5-(dialkylamino)-2-nitrosophenols with 2-naphthol. The yields are generally moderate as no co-oxidant is used in this procedure:. Since the reaction to generate Nile red does not usually completely exhaust the supply of Nile blue, additional separation steps are required if pure Nile red is needed.

Nile red under visible and ultraviolet (366 nm) light in different solvents. From left to right: 1. water, 2. methanol, 3. ethanol, 4. acetonitrile, 5. dimethylformamide, 6. acetone, 7. ethyl acetate, 8. dichloromethane, 9. n-hexane, 10. methyl-tert-butylether, 11. cyclohexane, 12. toluene.