Oriental Rugs Dictionary

Aniline Dye

In 1856, von Hofmann's student William Henry Perkin discovered mauveine and went into industry producing the first syntheticdye. Other aniline dyes followed, such as fuchsine, safranine, and induline. At the time of mauveine's discovery, aniline was expensive. Soon thereafter, applying a method reported in 1854 by Antoine B_champ, it was prepared "by the ton". The B_champ reduction enabled the evolution of a massive dye industry in Germany. Today, the name of BASF, originally Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik, now among the largest chemical suppliers, echoes the legacy of the synthetic dye industry, built via aniline dyes and extended via the related azo dyes. The first azo dye was aniline yellow.