60 Years of Betaine 30─From Solvatochromic Discovery to Future Frontiers

Betaine-30 (B30) was reported by Karl Dimroth and Christian Reichardt et al. in 1963 as a solvatochromic probe that can be easily synthesized, shows good solubility, and remains stable in various organic solvents and solutions. Its strongly negatively solvatochromic behavior arises from differential solvation between its electronic ground and excited states, making it a valuable tool for assessing solvent polarity using the E_T(30) polarity scale, also devised by Dimroth and Reichardt. In addition, advancements in femtosecond laser spectroscopy in the 1990s greatly improved the understanding of B30's relaxation dynamics following photoexcitation. In solvents capable of hydrogen bonding, such as alcohols, intermolecular hydrogen-bond rearrangement contributes to the multiple relaxation components observed. Since the 1990s, the applications of B30 have expanded beyond simple organic solvents to include complex solvent mixtures, such as electrolyte solutions for battery technologies and eutectic solvent mixtures. Given the growing importance of these complex solvent mixtures, B30 is becoming an increasingly valuable tool for studying previously unexplored solvation properties.