First synthetic dye invented by William Perkin

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.07: English Writing and Culture of the Victorian Period, 1837-1901.
Vol. editors: Gillian Fenwick (University of Toronto), Grace Moore (University of Otago)

Domains

Chemical engineering
Clothing and Textiles (technology)

Dates

Date of occurrence 1856

Places

United Kingdom (Location)

Until the creation of synthetic dyes, most natural dyes were derived from plants, or to a lesser extent from shellfish and insects, and produced only a limited range of colours, and an even smaller range of affordable ones. William Perkin, who in 1856 was only eighteen years old, was experimenting with coal tar, attempting to synthesise quinine, when he found that from one of its components, aniline, he could precipitate a substance that dissolved in alcohol to produce a vibrant purple colour. Crucial for its place in the dyeing industry, it was effective when applied to materials, and was stable in sunlight. After it became particularly popular in France, Perkins renamed it 'mauve', after the French term for the purple mallow flower. …

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

137 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "First synthetic dye invented by William Perkin". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 August 2013 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=6315, accessed 23 November 2024.]

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

First synthetic dye invented by William Perkin

Domains

Dates

Places

Save this article

Leave Feedback