This method was first developed by Benesi and Hildebrand in 1949, as a means to explain a phenomenon where iodine changes color in various aromatic solvents. This was attributed to the formation of an iodine-solvent complex through acid-base interactions, leading to the observed shifts in the absorption spectrum. Following this development, the Benesi–Hildebrand method has become one of the most common strategies for determining association constants based on absorbance spectra.