mauveine
Sign in to savethumb|right|Letter from Perkin's son, with a sample of dyed silk 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. It is also among the first chemical dyes to have been mass-produced.
Article
5 sectionsContents
- Chemistry
- History
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|right|Letter from Perkin's son, with a sample of dyed silk 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. It is also among the first chemical dyes to have been mass-produced.
== Chemistry == Mauveine is a mixture of four related aromatic compounds differing in number and placement of methyl groups. Its organic synthesis involves dissolving aniline, p-toluidine, and o-toluidine in sulfuric acid and water in a roughly 1:1:2 ratio, then adding potassium dichromate.