Summary
The chemical mechanism and histochemical significance of carmine stains are not yet understood. To determine possible effects of dye configuration on staining patterns we built models of dye molecules with the Stuart-Briegleb-type of atomic models. However, steric hindrance prevented construction of carmine according to the formula suggested by Harms. A review of recent chemical literature showed that the widely accepted formula of carminic acid is incorrect; the carboxyl group is not in the 5 but in the 7-position, and the side-chain is not a methylpentose but a hexose. Models based on the revised structural formula could be combined to 2∶1∶1 carminic acid-Al-Ca complexes. But formation of the central Al-O-Ca-O-Al bridge of the conventional 4∶2∶1 carminic acid-Al-Ca formula of carmine was still impossible. It is suggested that carmine may be a 2∶1∶1 compound analogous to the 2∶1∶1 alizarin-Al-Ca complex established by Kiel and Heertjes. Investigations of carmine were rendered difficult by wide variations in the staining properties of dye samples and the lack of data concerning the composition of various batches of carmine.
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Meloan, S.N., Valentine, L.S. & Puchtler, H. On the structure of carminic acid and carmine. Histochemie 27, 87–95 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00284950
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00284950