Mauveine
[1][2] It was discovered serendipitously by William Henry Perkin in 1856 while he was attempting to synthesise the phytochemical quinine for the treatment of malaria.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.[12] Mauveine #8D029B#8D029B In 1856, William Henry Perkin, then age 18, was given a challenge by his professor, August Wilhelm von Hofmann, to synthesize quinine.Suitable as a dye of silk and other textiles, it was patented by Perkin, who the next year opened a dyeworks mass-producing it at Greenford on the banks of the Grand Union Canal in Middlesex.The weekly journal All the Year Round described women wearing the colour as "all flying countryward, like so many migrating birds of purple paradise".
serendipitouslyWilliam Henry Perkinquininemalariaaromaticmethyl groupsorganic synthesisanilinep-toluidineo-toluidinesulfuric acidpotassium dichromatesafraninesoxidativereductivesafraninephenaziniumisomerSkeletal formulaCharles ReesAugust Wilhelm von HofmannoxidizedtoluidinepurpletextilespatentedGreenfordGrand Union CanalMiddlesexmallowAll the Year RoundPunch magazinesynthetic dyetransitional cell carcinomaJ. Chem. Educ.Perkin, W. H.Oxford University PressWayback Machine