Please note that the colours on this document are for demonstration purposes only as colours vary with individual monitors and therefore cannot be guaranteed as accurate.
Solvent dye is a dye which is soluble in an organic solvent and is mostly introduced in the form of a solution in an organic solvent.
Dyes are generally defined along the lines of being coloured, aromatic compounds that can ionise. One class of dyes is an exception to this. These colour by dissolving in the target material, which is invariably a lipid or non-polar solvent. The Colour Index uses this as a classification and naming system. Each dye is named according to the pattern: solvent + base colour + number
These dyes are thereby specifically identified as dyes of the stated colour, and whose primary mechanism of staining is by dissolving. Note that this is a functional and colour classification. It contains no chemical information, neither does it imply that dyes with similar names but unique numbers are in any way related. It should also be noted that the classification refers to the primary mechanism of staining. Other mechanisms may also be possible, but are rare.
As a general principle, solvent dyes do not ionise. Many are azo dyes which have undergone some molecular rearrangement and lost the ability to ionise. In the process they gained the ability to dissolve in non-polar materials such as triglycerides. They are commonly used to stain such materials in sections. They are frequently called lysochrome dyes. Lyso- meaning dissolve, and -chrome meaning colour.
