Gram’s crystal violet solution
SIAL/94448 - for microscopy
Synonym: Basic violet 3; gentian violet; hexamethyl pararosaniline; methyl violet 10B
Product Type: Chemical
| εmax | 33.8 at 585-595 nm in water |
| antibiotic activity spectrum | Gram-negative bacteria |
| Gram-positive bacteria | |
| application(s) | diagnostic assay manufacturing hematology histology |
| color | purple to very dark purple |
| density | 0.981 g/mL at 20 °C |
| form | liquid |
| grade | for microscopy |
| product line | BioChemika |
| Quality Level | 200  |
| shelf life | limited shelf life, expiry date on the label |
| storage temp. | room temp |
| suitability | suitable for microscopy |
| technique(s) | microbe id | staining: suitable |
| 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: | 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. |
| Principle: | 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. |
| Symbol |     GHS02,GHS07,GHS08,GHS09 |
| Signal word | Warning |
| Hazard statements | H226 - H319 - H351 - H411 |
| Precautionary statements | P202 - P210 - P233 - P273 - P305 + P351 + P338 - P308 + P313 |
| Hazard Codes | Xn,N |
| Risk Statements | 10-40-51/53 |
| Safety Statements | 36/37-61 |
| RIDADR | UN1170 - class 3 - PG 2 - Ethanol, solution |
| WGK Germany | WGK 3 |
| Flash Point(F) | 93.2 °F |
| Flash Point(C) | 34 °C |
| Density | 0.981 g/mL at 20 °C |
| Storage Temp. | room temp |
| UNSPSC | 12171500 |