Indophenol is an

organic compound In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. T ...

with the formula OC₆H₄NC₆H₄OH. It is deep blue dye that is the product of the Berthelot's reaction, a common test for ammonia. The indophenol group, with various substituents in place of O''H'' and various ring substitutions, is found in many dyes used in

hair coloring Hair coloring, or hair dyeing, is the practice of changing the hair color. The main reasons for this are cosmetic: to cover gray or white hair, to change to a color regarded as more fashionable or desirable, or to restore the original hair color ...

and textiles. Indophenol is used in hair dyes, lubricants,

redox Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a ...

materials, liquid crystal displays, fuel cells and

chemical-mechanical polishing Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) or planarization is a process of smoothing surfaces with the combination of chemical and mechanical forces. It can be thought of as a hybrid of chemical etching and free abrasive polishing. Description The pro ...

. It is an environmental pollutant and is toxic to fish.

Berthelot test

In the Berthelot test (1859), a sample suspected of having containing ammonia is treated with

sodium hypochlorite Sodium hypochlorite (commonly known in a dilute solution as bleach) is an inorganic chemical compound with the formula NaOCl (or NaClO), comprising a sodium cation () and a hypochlorite anion (or ). It may also be viewed as the sodium s ...

and

phenol Phenol (also called carbolic acid) is an aromatic organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a white crystalline solid that is volatile. The molecule consists of a phenyl group () bonded to a hydroxy group (). Mildly acidic, it ...

. The formation of indophenol is used to determine

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous wa ...

and paracetamol by

spectrophotometry Spectrophotometry is a branch of electromagnetic spectroscopy concerned with the quantitative measurement of the reflection or transmission properties of a material as a function of wavelength. Spectrophotometry uses photometers, known as sp ...

. Other phenols can be used. Dichlorophenol-indophenol (DCPIP), a form of indophenol, is often used to determine the presence of

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) ...

( ascorbic acid).

Related compounds

Indophenol blue is a different compound with

systematic name A systematic name is a name given in a systematic way to one unique group, organism, object or chemical substance, out of a specific population or collection. Systematic names are usually part of a nomenclature. A semisystematic name or semitrivial ...

''N-(p-dimethylaminophenyl)-1,4-naphthoquinoneimine''. Indophenol Blue

References

{{Commons category, Indophenol Indophenol dyes