Perkin, Sir William Henry


Perkin, Sir William Henry,

1838–1907, English chemist. In 1856 he discovered the first anilineaniline
, C6H5NH2, colorless, oily, basic liquid organic compound; chemically, a primary aromatic amine whose molecule is formed by replacing one hydrogen atom of a benzene molecule with an amino group.
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 dye (aniline purple, known as mauve and mauveine); by founding a factory to make it, Perkin established the aniline dye industry in England. He was knighted in 1906. His son, William Henry Perkin, Jr., 1860–1927, also a chemist, synthesized numerous organic compounds, including camphor and several alkaloids.

Bibliography

See S. Garfield, Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World (2001).