Research Topic · Peer-Reviewed

Methylene Blue

Methylene blue is a synthetic heterocyclic aromatic compound of the phenothiazine class, a cationic thiazine dye recognizable by its intense blue colour in the oxidized state and reversible reduction to the colourless leucomethylene blue. Its planar conjugated ring system and redox-active nitrogen and sulphur centre…

Curated from this journal's research 📚 12 peer-reviewed articles cited Cited 176× across the literature 🔖 ISSN 2377-2549 🗓 Reviewed June 2026

Overview

Methylene blue is a synthetic heterocyclic aromatic compound of the phenothiazine class, a cationic thiazine dye recognizable by its intense blue colour in the oxidized state and reversible reduction to the colourless leucomethylene blue. Its planar conjugated ring system and redox-active nitrogen and sulphur centres allow it to act as an electron acceptor and donor, which underpins its long-standing roles as a biological stain in histology and microbiology, a redox indicator, and a photosensitizer capable of generating reactive oxygen species under illumination. In analytical and physical chemistry it serves as a model adsorbate for evaluating the surface area, porosity, and uptake capacity of activated carbons, clays, and engineered nanomaterials, and as a probe in spectrophotometric and electrochemical methods. Pharmacologically, methylene blue is recognised for its capacity to reduce methemoglobin to functional hemoglobin and for its inhibition of nitric oxide synthase and guanylate cyclase. Characterisation of dye behaviour commonly draws on vibrational spectroscopy, electronic absorption, and quantum-chemical descriptors such as frontier molecular orbital energies and hyperpolarizability. These techniques connect the study of methylene blue to wider work on molecular structure, spectral fingerprinting, and material adsorption that defines contemporary chemical research.

Research published in this journal

12 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.

How this research is being cited

The 12 articles above have been cited 176 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.

A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Methylene Blue, linking to each citing work.

Editorial oversight

Curated from peer-reviewed research published in New Developments in Chemistry (ISSN 2377-2549).

Journal editorial board
Annarita Del Gatto · Italy Bharat Gurale · United States Palani ELUMALAI · United Kingdom

This page summarises published research for orientation; it is not medical or professional advice.