Phthalein Dyes

Abstract

AbstractColor change has fascinated individuals for a long time. Phthaleins dyes traditionally are used for color change, and they constitute the major class of pH indicators. This review presents systematic and up‐to‐date compiled data on commonly used phthalein dyes with references to the introduction, history, chemical structures, synthesis, color‐change mechanism, color and constitution, spectral data, applications, and health/safety factors.Phthalein dyes exhibit multiple applications, which are grouped into eight major categories such as electronics, security, coatings, industrial, agriculture, food, personal‐care products, and medical. The toxicity of phenolphthein is discussed with references to bacterial toxicity, carcinogenicity, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, chromosome aberrations, cytotoxicity, DNA damage, environmental toxicity, estrogen activity, genotoxicity, mutagenicity, renal toxicity, and reproductive toxicity.