[Nyto]

So I've been looking for Organic dyes online for a year now and I've found that vendors have no knowledge on the dye's properties. I've looked up several of the ideal dyes I'd like to get my hands on: Anthraquinones, azos, Indigo, the less easily they oxidize and the more thermally stable, the better. I'm looking to make colored smoke flares.

None of these look like the kind of dye you could make at home using easily acquired things (Strangely enough, can't find no Indigo where I live!) , so I want to take the making into my own hands. I read about betanin, the dye found in beets. It may be a good candidate... but then I also read it degraded when exposed to, well, almost any kind of energy (Light, thermal, oxidizes easily).

My question is, could I somehow obtain a organic dye suitable for use in a flare from common vegetable, plant, fruit, spice etc.?

[darkdevil]

Indigo is easy to make. Just purchase some 2-nitrobenzaldehyde, acetone, and sodium hydroxide. Mix them and you will get indigo in seconds!

[Nyto]

Alright! Awesome suggestion, though it seems 2-Nitrobenzaldehyde isn't readily available over here. It did lead me to Aniline (C₆H₅NH₂ )though, which are popular for hair dyeing. These compounds though are rather toxic and degrading for the ecosystem, something I'd rather steer very clear of.

Still hoping for more knowledge to come my way. Learning how to make Indigo might not have helped me today, but who knows what the future holds.

[Enthalpy]

What sort of "flare" shall the dye survive? If it's a pyrotechnic flame I doubt any organic dye will stay intact. Under such conditions I'd jump to metal oxides.

[Corribus]

Organic dyes are frequently used in colored smoke.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colored_smoke

But, none of these will be easy to make (and purify) without a properly equipped synthesis lab.

[Nyto]

Damn well, I so happened to find a Anthracene supplier. I've read Anthracene oxidizes readily to form anthraquinone, basis to many organic dyes. I obviously won't go ahead and buy the stuff yet, as you guys tell me it can be difficult to synthesize these dyes... which leads me to my next question:

What kind of equipment is needed to get a raw product (Organic dye) I could use for colored smoke?