Mercurochrome

Image:Merbromin-Anti-Infective.jpg

Mercurochrome (also known as merbromin) is a topicalantiseptic. Its antiseptic qualities were discovered by Johns HopkinsdoctorHugh Youngin 1919. The chemical soon became popular among parents and doctors for everyday antiseptic uses, mostly in tinctureform, and it was very commonly used for minor injuries in the schoolyard, where children nicknamed the tincture 'Monkey Blood'. The FDAbanned its distribution in the United Statesin the 1990sover fears of mercury poisoning. It is readily available in most other countries.

Image:Mercurochrome.png It is also used as a chemical dyefor its bright redcolor. In its pure state, it has the appearance of green crystals with melting point higher than 300 °C.

Chemically, mercurochrome is C{{{else{{{test|}}}|{{{test{{{test|}}}|{{{then|}}}}}}}}}}|then=_{{{1}}}}}₂₀H{{{else{{{test|}}}|{{{test{{{test|}}}|{{{then|}}}}}}}}}}|then=_{{{1}}}}}₈Br₂HgNa{{{else{{{test|}}}|{{{test{{{test|}}}|{{{then|}}}}}}}}}}|then=_{{{1}}}}}₂O{{{else{{{test|}}}|{{{test{{{test|}}}|{{{then|}}}}}}}}}}|then=_{{{1}}}|}}₆, name dibromohydroxymercurifluorescein.

Its CAS numberis 129-16-8[1]and its SMILESstructure is BrC3=CC2=C(C4=C (C([O-])=O)C=C C=C4)C1=CC(Br)=C ([O-])C([Hg]O)=C1O C2=CC3=O.[Na+].[Na+]. Its EINECS numberis 204-933-6. Its other names are Merbromine, Sodium mercurescein, Asceptichrome, Supercrome orto, and Cinfacromin.

External links

Mercurochrome.org, a group trying to reverse the FDA ban

• National Pollutant Inventory - Mercury and compounds Fact Sheet

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercurochrome Wikipedia article Mercurochrome.