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Millon, n.

DRAFT ENTRY Dec. 2007

Biochem. and Chem.

Brit. /mln/, U.S. /mln/  [< the name of Auguste Nicolas Eugène Millon (1812-67), French chemist and physician.] 

    1. a. Millon's test n. (also Millon test) the Millon reaction (see sense 1c) employed as a test for phenols, esp. for proteins containing tyrosine.

1870 Nature 28 Apr. 658/1, I treated the substance with Millon's test which, as is well known, colours conchiolin red. 1891 F. C. LARKIN & P. LEIGH Outl. Pract. Physiological Chem. (ed. 2) 11 Millon's test. No reaction if pure. 1968 Brain 91 464 Tyrosine residues were demonstrated with the Millon test and the diazotization coupling method. 1987 G. TOOLE & S. TOOLE Understanding Biol. for Advanced Level iii. 32/2 Millon's Test detects the amino acid tyrosine and will therefore only give a positive result with proteins possessing it.

    b. Millon's reagent n. a clear solution of mercuric nitrate containing some nitrous acid, used in the Millon test.

1872 Chem. News 2 Aug. 59/1 (title) Estimation of urea by means of Millon's reagent. 1955 K. HUTTON & A. SWALLOW Chem. for Gen. Sci. xii. 171 Add a few drops of Millon's reagent..to scraps of hair or finger-nail in a test-tube and warm. Note the curious and unique pink colour that develops. 1963 R. R. A. HIGHAM Handbk. Papermaking iii. 85 The presence of casein may be proved by moistening the paper with Millon's reagent and gently heating. 1998 Arch. Pathol. & Lab. Med. 122 644 The crystals were not discernible under polarized light. They stained a red-brown color with Millon's reagent, which indicated the presence of tyrosine.

    c. Millon reaction n. (also Millon's reaction) the characteristic reaction of Millon's reagent with phenolic compounds, in which a white precipitate is produced that becomes pink or reddish on heating (described by Millon for a phenolic protein in Compte Rendu Hebd. de l'Acad. des Sci. (1849) 28 40).

1875 A. GAMGEE tr. L. Hermann Elem. Human Physiol. I. 32 Mercuric nitrate, in the presence of a little nitrous acid, at 60°C., colours the albuminous bodies red (Millon's reaction). 1953 A. G. E. PEARSE Histochem. vii. 140 The presence of a positive Millon reaction for tyrosine or a positive coupled tetrazonium reaction for tyrosine, tryptophan and histidine, can be taken as sufficient indication of the presence of protein. 1989 Jrnl. Zool. 219 22 Skin sections were treated by the following procedures:..Ninhydrin/Schiff technique for protein-bound NH₂ groups;..Millon reaction for tyrosine; [etc.].

    2. Millon's base n. a yellow basic powder, Hg₂NOH·2H₂O, produced by the action of aqueous ammonia on mercuric oxide (as reported by Millon in Ann. de Chim. et de Physique (1846) 18 393).

1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 34/1 The product is a yellow solid base (‘Millon's base’) of the composition N₂H₆ + 4HgO + H₂O = N₂Hg₄O.2H₂O + 2H₂O. 1922 T. M. LOWRY Inorg. Chem. xliv. 886 When mercuric oxide is acted on by dilute ammonia it is converted slowly into a pale yellow powder having the empirical formula 2HgO,NH₃,H₂O, which explodes when heated (compare fulminating gold) and is known as Millon's Base. 1951 Acta Crystallogr. 4 156 The structure of Millon's base, Hg₂NOH.2H₂O, consists of a three-dimensional framework Hg₂N⁺ in an idealized cristobalite type of arrangement.

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