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Acridine yellow

chemical compound

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 10, 2026
Entity authorityQ3762377
Source-derived summary

Acridine yellow, also known as acridine yellow G, acridine yellow H107, basic yellow K, and 3,6-diamino-2,7-dimethylacridine, is a yellow dye with strong bluish-green fluorescence. It is a derivate of acridine. In histology, it is used as a fluorescent stain, and as a fluorescent probe for non-invasive measurements of cytoplasmic pH changes in whole cells. It is also used as a topical antiseptic. It is usually available as a hydrochloride salt. Acridine yellow damages DNA and is used as a mutagen in microbiology.

Acridine yellow is similar to acridine orange.

According to a publication by Karl Drechsler, a student of Guido Goldschmiedt at the Imperial and Royal University of Vienna, Moriz Freund discovered the substance in 1896 during experiments at the University of Prague. Drechsler was then able to produce the substance in larger quantities and subsequently also examine it more closely.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Acridine yellow” as chemical compound. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Acridine, yellow and chemical.

Editorial reviewUseful for establishing the present vocabulary of the subject while preserving a route back to the evidence on which that vocabulary rests. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1896—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Acridine, yellow and chemical providing the first useful test.
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Evidence profile

Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3762377. The first chronological checks are 1896.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Acridine yellow” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.