Sciencemadness Discussion Board

amidazotoluol

e.liska - 27-9-2017 at 09:58

I have found a bottle that reads Amidoazotoluol medicinale "?gfa", Anilin fabrikation Berlin... looks pretty ancient. The question is, what it is and what should I do with it?

CRUSTY - 27-9-2017 at 18:35

Amidoazotoluol appears to be a seldom-used synonym of o-aminoazotoluene. It was previously used as a yellow azo dye, but was found to likely be carcinogenic. The attached file is a report on the potential medical use of o-aminoazotoluene, in which it is described as an "epithelial stimulant". Based on the paper, epithelial stimulation entails chemically-induced acceleration of would healing, at least in this context.

As for its uses, you can apparently use it to synthesize the far safer azo dye "Scarlet Red".

Attachment: annsurg00957-0021.pdf (1.7MB)
This file has been downloaded 333 times


Assured Fish - 27-9-2017 at 20:32

Curious compound indeed, assuming it is in fact o-aminoazotoluene.
e.liska could you provide a picture of the material in a test tube or on a watch glass, pretty pleeeaase.

e.liska - 28-9-2017 at 03:20

I do not feel like opening it now, I have no replacement bottle handy and it seems it may be difficult to seal the original bottle. This is how it looks through the somewhat yellow glass of the bottle:

IMG_20170928_121224.jpg - 244kB

e.liska - 28-9-2017 at 14:39

I have found the following text, the physical description matches the content of the bottle:

Amidoazotoluol Medicinale " Agfa " is the title given by the manufac-
turer to the coloring matter purified for medicinal use, and forms the basis
of the so-called " scharlach rot " (scarlet-red) and " sharlach-salbe" of com-
merce. The medicament is supplied in the form of a red-brown crystal-
line powder, becoming yellow by trituration, and melts at 102® C. It is
sparingly soluble in soda solution with yellow color, but forms a red-yellow
solution with concentrated sulphuric acid, becoming purpled-red on addi-
tion of water. — Pharm. Ztg., Iv (1910), No. 12, 121.

CRUSTY - 28-9-2017 at 15:27

Pubchem describes o-aminoazotoluene as having "reddish-brown to golden crystals; orangish red powder". That checks out. If it is o-aminoazotoluene, then it should be nearly insoluble in water, and should melt around 101 degrees C.

Edit: whoops, you beat me to it.

[Edited on 28-9-2017 by CRUSTY]