A Study in Mauve: Unveiling Perkin's Dye in Historic Samples

Abstract

The analysis of different historic mauve samples—mauve salts and dyed textiles—was undertaken to establish the exact nature of the iconic dye produced by W. H. Perkin in the nineteenth century. Fourteen samples from important museum collections were analyzed, and it was determined that, in contrast to the general wisdom that mauveine consists of C26 and C27 structures, Perkin's mauveine is a complex mixture of at least thirteen methyl derivatives (C24 to C28) with a 7‐amino‐5‐phenyl‐3‐(phenylamino)phenazin‐5‐ium core. A fingerprint was established in which mauveines A or B were dominant, and in which mauveines B2 and C25 were found to be important tracers to probe the original synthesis. Counterion analysis showed that all the mauve salts should be dated after 1862. Perkin's original recipe could be identified in three textile samples, and in these cases, mauveines A and C25 were found to be the major chromophores. These are now shown to be the samples containing the “original mauve”.

HPLC-DAD and HPLC-ESI-Q-ToF characterisation of early 20th century lake and organic pigments from Lefranc archives

“…These findings may point to the application of specific synthesis conditions favouring the 2,6-substitution and thus leading to an excessive amount of by-products with respect to the target species. Flavopurpurin was detected by other authors in late 19th century textiles from the China National Silk Museum [15]. A mono-hydroxyanthraquinone was also identified in the samples from the Lefranc collection, but neither the UV-Vis nor the mass spectra located the position of the substituent unambiguously.…”

“…Interest in the characterisation of modern organic pigments has only gained momentum in the scientific literature in the last 10 years. Early synthetic dyes have been studied extensively [2,[13][14][15][16]. However, relatively little has been published on organic pigments used in paintings-several projects have revealed van Gogh's painting materials in Europe [16,17] and extensive work has been carried out at the Getty Institute for Conservation in the US [18].…”

Elektrifizierung der organischen Synthese

“…[29] 3. Electrochemical C À NF unctionalization of Arenes Primary aromatic amines are important structural motifs in organic chemistry.T hey are used for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, [30] natural products, [31] dyes, [32] polymers, [33] and functional materials. [34] Therefore,a ne asy access to aniline derivatives is highly desired.…”

Bright lights: disclosures from the optical, spectroscopic and chromatographic characterization of a 19th century Portuguese sedan chair

“…These red dyes were used for centuries prior to the discovery of new synthetic dyes in the mid19th century. After the serendipitous discovery of the first synthetic dye -mauveine -by W. H. Perkin in 1856, new synthetic dyes, which were less expensive and more resistant to photodegradation, started to replace the use of natural dyes, which were found to be more expensive and, in some cases, less stable [4]. Fuchsine, a synthetic basic aniline dye, was first synthesised by A. H. von Hofmann in 1858, although it was François-Emmanuel Verguin, who also developed its synthesis at the same time in France and who first registered the patent [5].…”

“…As chemistry developed, new and less expensive pigment syntheses were introduced. Prussian blue, an hexacyanoferrate pigment (Fe 4 [Fe(CN) 6 ] 3 ·xH 2 O), was first synthesized by J. J. Diesbach and J. C. Dippel at the beginning of 18th century, and from then on until the 19th century, it was a widely used blue pigment [8].…”