CAL Fluor dyes
Recently issued a patent for its CAL Fluor™ dyes, we introduced this series of vibrant dyes for real-time qPCR as lower-cost, superior performing replacements for many commonly used fluorophores. Their emission maxima range from 544 nm to 637 nm, which make them ideal fluorophores for multiplexed qPCR. They are excellent replacement fluorophores for VIC, TET, HEX, JOE, TAMRA, Texas Red®, LC Red 640® dyes. We offer dye calibration standards to optimise your instruments performance for these dyes.
Historically, there was a limited selection of dyes available for multiplex PCR: TET, JOE, VIC™, HEX, Texas Red®, Cy™3, and Cy5. In recent years, the selection and quality of reporters and quenchers has dramatically improved. We have developed the CAL Fluor dyes, a set of fluorescent dyes specifically designed for qPCR instruments. These novel xanthene fluorophores not only replace previous dyes as a lower-cost alternative, they have unique patented features. These dyes can be efficiently manufactured and remain stable through oligo synthesis and work up. The attachment chemistry linking the CAL Fluor dyes to biomolecules eliminates the problem of multiple isomers. This results in dye labels that are easier to manufacture, have a single RP-HPLC peak and have well-defined emission spectra.
CAL Fluor dyes are available as dye-CPGs and as dye-phosphoramidites. These reactive forms allow the CAL Fluor dyes to be incorporated during oligo synthesis, which results in more efficient label incorporation and fewer purification steps than post-synthesis labeling. The CAL Fluor dyes have emission maxima from 544 nm to 637 nm and can be paired with BHQ-1 or BHQ-2 for efficient quenching in a variety of probe formats. Multiplex suggestions and PCR instrument compatibility of CAL Fluor Dyes can be found here.
Carboxylic acids of the CAL Fluor dyes 560, 590, and 610 are available to use for peptide labeling.
CAL Fluor dye properties
| Label | Abs max | Em max | Dye replaced |
| CAL Fluor Gold 540 | 522 nm | 544 nm | VIC, TET JOE |
| CAL Fluor Orange 560 | 538 nm | 559 nm | VIC, HEX JOE |
| CAL Fluor Red 590 | 569 nm | 591 nm | TAMRA |
| CAL Fluor Red 610 | 590 nm | 610 nm | Texas Red® |
| CAL Fluor Red 635 | 618 nm | 637 nm | LC RED 640® |
Download our Black Hole Quencher and Dye Selection Chart for more details about other offered dyes.