William Henry Perkin and the world’s first synthetic dye (2024)
161 years ago, on 26 August 1856, the world's first synthetic dye was patented by William Henry Perkin, whose archive is now part of our collection.
How many significant scientific discoveries can you think of? And how many of those discoveries came about by accident, because someone was exercising his or her curiosity? This blog post is a celebration of the anniversary of one such discovery being patented more than 160 years ago. It’s a discovery that continues to have significance right up to the present.
One of my favourite collections held in the archive at the Museum of Science and Industry is a loan from the descendants of Sir William Henry Perkin. Perkin was a research chemist, and a curious experimenter from an early age.
I love the Perkin Collection because its contents tell a story of an accidental discovery changing the way things were traditionally done in one industry, and leading to an entirely new industry being established. It’s also a story about how making use of an inquisitive mind can change someone’s fortunes.
In 1856, during the Easter holidays from college, Perkin worked on a task set for him by the head of the Royal College of Chemistry, August Wilhelm von Hofmann. Only 18 years old, Perkin was in his second year of working as Hofmann’s research assistant. Hofmann was keen to develop a synthetic form of quinine, which was in demand as a treatment for malaria. Hofmann was interested in the chemical synthesis of natural compounds, and thought quinine was a good challenge, given that its natural form was difficult to extract.
Perkin’s task was to carry out experiments using a substance called aniline, a colourless aromatic oil derived from coal tar. Perkin worked on his task in a rudimentary laboratory at home. His experiment involved him oxidising aniline using potassium dichromate. The oxidisation produced a black precipitate that, when the colour was removed, dyed silk purple. He recorded his findings in a notebook, which the museum holds on loan from the City of London School.
Above:Perkin’s laboratory notebook for 1855-1856, pages showing experiments on mauveine in June 1956. Note the purple fingerprints on the pages.
Perkin called the colour mauve and named his unique synthetic dye mauveine. You can see Perkin’s fingerprints in mauve on some pages of his laboratory notebook.
The discovery changed the dyeing industry and made Perkin’s fortune. It also helped to establish the modern chemical industry. After Perkin’s pioneering use of a coal tar derivative to make synthetic dyes, coal tar ceased to be a waste product only good for waterproofing fabric. Other derivatives of coal tar were used in saccharine production, the pharmaceutical industry and the development of perfumes. Perkin was able to retire from business aged 36, and spent the rest of his life carrying out research in other areas of chemistry.
Perkin took out a patent on his accidental discovery on 26 August 1856. Mauveine, or aniline purple as it is more formally known, was the world’s first synthetic dye and was among the first mass-produced chemical dyes. The Perkin collection includes four copies of the third edition of Perkin’s patent, as well as a bottled sample of the dye prepared by Perkin in 1862. The patent records Perkin’s method for making aniline purple dye.
Excitingly for the museum, a researcher at the University of Aberdeen contacted us in 2012 about his research into how mauveine was made. Dr John Plater is an organic chemist, and he was curious to know whether the aniline purple dye used in textiles and stamps produced in the years following the granting of the patent had the same chemical structure as aniline purple synthesised using Perkin’s patented method.
Dr Plater used a sample of the bottled dye held at the museum, with the permission of the collection’s owners, to analyse its structure by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. He did the same with the lilac coloured sixpenny stamps produced using Perkin’s mauveine in the 19th century. When he compared his results, he found something unexpected. Sir William Henry Perkin had been keeping something secret. In continuing to research aniline dye synthesis, Perkin had developed ways of producing aniline purple by varying its key components, but he didn’t want his competitors in France and Germany to know.
Dr Plater believes that the changes Perkin made are linked to the mass-production of the dye. One change in particular increased the amount of dye that could be synthesised and was a major leap forward in synthetic dye production. Dr Plater published his research findings in the Journal of Chemical Research in November 2016. You can read an interesting article about Dr Plater’s research in the January 2017 issue of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Chemistry World magazine.
We love it when our historical collections are used to further contemporary knowledge about science and technology. Now, what accidental discovery are you going to make that might change the world? Or what might you find in our collections that will inspire you to make a discovery of your own?
The synthetic dye boom started with mauveine, the purple dye discovered in 1856 by 18-year-old chemist William Henry Perkin. Within decades synthetic dyes were available in almost any shade you could imagine—bringing with them a fashion revolution, but also environmental consequences.
In 1856, during Easter vacation from London's Royal College of Chemistry, 18-year-old William Henry Perkin (1838–1907) synthesized mauve, or aniline purple—the first commercialized synthetic dyestuff—from chemicals derived from coal tar.
In search of a treatment for malaria, Perkin experimented with coal tar, a thick, dark liquid by-product of coal-gas production. His experiment failed but left behind an oily residue that stained silk a brilliant purple. He called the dye mauveine. Perkin's purple changed history.
Mauveine, also known as aniline purple and Perkin's mauve, was one of the first synthetic dyes. It was discovered serendipitously by William Henry Perkin in 1856 while he was attempting to synthesise the phytochemical quinine for the treatment of malaria.
Later years. William Perkin continued active research in organic chemistry for the rest of his life: he discovered and marketed other synthetic dyes, including Britannia Violet and Perkin's Green; he discovered ways to make coumarin, one of the first synthetic raw materials of perfume, and cinnamic acid.
Eugene Schueller produced the first synthetic hair colorant in 1907. It was only in the 1920s that the technique of permanent hair coloring was developed, involving an oxidizing and alkalizing agent.
History. The oldest known fabric dyed indigo, dated to 6,000 years ago, was discovered in Huaca Prieta, Peru. Many Asian countries, such as India, China, Japan, and Southeast Asian nations have used indigo as a dye (particularly for silk) for centuries.
But perhaps the most fascinating of all Perkin's reactions to his find was his nearly instant recognition that the new dye had commercial possibilities. Perkin originally named his dye Tyrian. Purple, but it later became commonly known as mauve (from the French for the plant used to make the colour violet).
The Perkin reaction gives an alpha, beta-unsaturated aromatic acid via the aldol condensation of an aromatic aldehyde and an acid anhydride. The alkali salt of the acid is also present. This alkali salt acts as a base catalyst. Other bases can be used instead of the alkali salt of the acid in the Perkin reaction.
A Perkin reaction is an organic condensation reaction developed by English chemist William Henry Perkin in the 19th century and is used to make cinnamic acids. Before going into the details of Perkin reaction, we need to know what a cinnamic acid is and what an aldol condensation reaction is.
Sir William Henry Perkin (born March 12, 1838, London, England—died July 14, 1907, Sudbury, near Harrow, Middlesex) was a British chemist who discovered aniline dyes.
Explanation: The 'rage' for William Henry Perkin's purple dye was due to the fact that it was less expensive than dyes that came from plants and animals, and the color did not fade. It became highly popular as it allowed people to achieve vibrant and long-lasting colors.
Eighteen-year-old student William Henry Perkin created purple in March 1856 during a failed chemistry experiment to produce quinine, a substance used to treat malaria. Perkin instead invented the first synthetic dye. He originally called it “Tyrian purple,” but then settled on the French word “mauve.”
The synthetic dye boom started with mauveine, the purple dye discovered in 1856 by 18-year-old chemist William Henry Perkin. Within decades synthetic dyes were available in almost any shade you could imagine—bringing with them a fashion revolution, but also environmental consequences.
Working as a student for Professor August Wilhelm von Hofmann FRS at the Royal College of Chemistry, William Perkin began experimenting on the synthesis of quinine from aniline. It was during these investigations in 1856 that Perkin accidently produced a black precipitate which contained a violet substance.
Perkin took out a patent on his accidental discovery on 26 August 1856. Mauveine, or aniline purple as it is more formally known, was the world's first synthetic dye and was among the first mass-produced chemical dyes.
In 1856, William Henry Perkin discovered the first synthetic organic dye, called mauve. Discoveries of similar dyes soon followed, and they quickly became used to color foods, drugs, and cosmetics. Because these dyes were first produced from by-products of coal processing, they were known as "coal-tar colors."
Perkin took out a patent on his accidental discovery on 26 August 1856. Mauveine, or aniline purple as it is more formally known, was the world's first synthetic dye and was among the first mass-produced chemical dyes.
In 1856 the first commercially successful synthetic dye, mauve, was serendipitously discovered by British chemist William H. Perkin, who recognized and quickly exploited its commercial significance.
In China, dyeing with plants, barks, and insects has been traced back more than 5,000 years. Early evidence of dyeing comes from Sindh province in Ancient India modern day Pakistan, where a piece of cotton dyed with a vegetable dye was recovered from the archaeological site at Mohenjo-daro (3rd millennium BCE).
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