Synopsis
A simple method which does not involve chromatography is described for the purification of neotetrazolium chloride (NT). Commercial samples of NT were shown to contain variable amounts of a major monotetrazolium salt contaminant, which was isolated and identified as 2-(4-biphenyl-)-3,5-diphenyltetrazolium chloride (BDTC). A qualitative method for checking the purity of NT and BDTC by thin-layer chromatography is described; with this technique the presence of traces of other tetrazolium salt contaminants was detected. The preparation of pure samples of formazan corresponding to NT and BDTC is described; molar extinction coefficients are given with sufficient other information to enable estimation of the amounts of NT and BDTC in mixtures of the two to be made.
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Jones, G.R.N. The purification and some properties of neotetrazolium chloride and its chief monotetrazolium salt contaminant. Histochem J 1, 59–67 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01054294
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01054294