# Polymethine

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{{Short description|Class of chemical compounds}}
'''Polymethines''' are compounds made up from an ''odd'' number of [methine](/source/methine) groups (CH) bound together by alternating single and [double bond](/source/double_bond)s.<ref>Kachovski and Dekhtyar, ''Dyes and Pigments'', '''22''' (1983) 83-97.</ref> Compounds made up from an ''even'' number of methine groups are known as [polyenes](/source/polyenes).

== Polymethine dyes ==
{{main|Polymethine dyes}}
[Cyanine](/source/Cyanine)s are synthetic dyes belonging to polymethine group. [Anthocyanidin](/source/Anthocyanidin)s are natural plant pigments belonging to the group of the polymethine dyes.

Polymethines are fluorescent dyes that may be attached to nucleic acid probes for different uses, ''e.g.'', to accurately count [reticulocyte](/source/reticulocyte)s.

== References ==
<references/>

Category:Alkenes

{{alkene-stub}}

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