Sudan Red BK, Fat Ponceau G, Cerasin Red, C.I. 26100, Solvent Red 23, Solvent Red 164, Sudan Red, Sudan Red III, Sudan V, Sudan Red B, Sudan G, Scarlet B, and Tony Red
It is used to color nonpolar substances such as oils, fats, waxes, greases, various hydrocarbon products, and acrylicemulsions. Its main use is as a fuel dye in the United States mandated by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to distinguish low-taxed heating oil from automotive diesel fuel, and by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to mark fuels with higher sulfur content; it is a replacement for Solvent Red 26 with better solubility in hydrocarbons.[3] The IRS requires "a concentration spectrally equivalent to at least 3.9 pounds of... Solvent Red 26 per thousand barrels of fuel" (11.1 mg/L);[4] the concentrations required by EPA are roughly 5 times lower. It should be stored at room temperature.[5]
Biological staining
Sudan III is a dye used for Sudan staining. Similar dyes include Oil Red O, Sudan IV, and Sudan Black B. They are used for staining of triglycerides in frozen sections, and some protein bound lipids and lipoproteins on paraffin sections. It has the appearance of reddish brown crystals and a maximum absorption at 507(304) nm.[6] It has a more orange shade than Oil Red O, lending to its less popular status. In botany, it is used with Light Green SF Yellowish to differentiate between suberized and cutinized plant tissue.[5]
^ ab"Sudan III"(PDF). Sigma Aldrich. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
^R. D. Lillie. Conn's Biological Stains. Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, MD., U.S.A.
^Refat NA, Ibrahim ZS, Moustafa GG, et al. (2008). "The induction of cytochrome P450 1A1 by Sudan dyes". J. Biochem. Mol. Toxicol. 22 (2): 77–84. doi:10.1002/jbt.20220. PMID18418879. S2CID206010951.
Susan Budavari, Editor, (1996). The Merck Index, Ed. 12. Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA
Edward Gurr, (1971). Synthetic Dyes in Biology, Medicine and Chemistry. Academic Press, London, England.