Abstract
The ability of 17 inorganic compounds (POCl3, PSC13, PC13, P2O5, P2S5, P4S3, P4S7, PC15, Sb2O5, As2O5, BiOC12, SeOC12, SO2C12, Sb2S5, VOC12, SiC14 and CrO2Cl2) dissolved in pyridine or 2,2,4-trimethyl pentane, to enhance subsequent staining of tissue components with toluidine blue, phosphotungstic acid-hematoxylin (PTAH), leukofuchsin, and dihydroxydinaphthyl-disulfide (DDD) was studied. Eight of these compounds were also tested for ability to enhance staining with Alcian blue 8GN and Luxol fast blue MBS. Nine of the 17 compounds produced increased staining of certain tissue components with leukofuchsin, 13 with toluidine blue, 16 with PTAH, and 16 with DDD. The results suggest additional approaches to identification of tissue entities by induced metachromatic basophilia and leukofuchsin positivity as well as by the other stains studied, and also suggest a number of hitherto unstudied modes of reaction between the dyes used and reactive groups of tissue components. Many reactions of the compounds tested, with reactive groups known to be present in tissue components, are basecatalyzed, so that choice of solvent can influence the results obtained.