William Henry Perkin

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Perkin as a young chemist around 1860

Sir William Henry Perkin (born March 12, 1838 in East End , London , † July 14, 1907 in Sudbury ) was a British chemist and industrialist . Perkin invented in 1856 by chance the first synthetic dye, Mauvein . He founded a major dye company and remained a researcher at the same time. He developed syntheses for the preparation of cinnamic acid and coumarin .

Live and act

Perkin was the son of a builder. After attending a private school, Perkin went to the City of London School . As a student, the young Perkin constructed steam engines , and his interest in chemistry began at the age of 12–13. At the age of 15 (1853), after the intercession of his teacher Thomas Hall , Perkin became a student at the Royal College of Chemistry under the direction of August Wilhelm von Hofmann . Perkin quickly completed the qualitative, quantitative, gas-analytical studies course and began his own experimental studies in the second year of study.

Already at the age of 17 Perkin became titular assistant at Hofmann in his London laboratory. Perkin studied the anthracene and explored the nitration and reduction of aromatic nitro compounds . From the oxidation of anthracene, Perkin obtained the anthraquinone . Perkin also examined the effects of cyanogen chloride on naphthylamine .

1856 in attempting quinine synthetically by oxidation of allyltoluidine illustrate, by reacting aniline with potassium dichromate the Mauvein -dye ( Perkin-violet , aniline purple invented).

Perkin founded an aniline dye factory, marketed other dyes such as B. Britannia violet , Perkin green and around 1868 developed the so-called Perkin reaction for the production of unsaturated organic acids by condensation of aldehydes with sodium salts of carboxylic acids under the influence of acid anhydrides . At the age of 18, Perkin secured his invention with a patent (Patent No. 1984, August 26, 1856) and set up a chemical factory in Greenford Green near Sudbury. The new factory building was already in place in 1857 and the dye mauvein was marketed a little later under the name Aniline Purple and Tyrian Purple . At first mauvein was only used to dye silk , later to dye cotton . Soon other discoverers also brought new tar dyes onto the market.

Perkin had also set up a small laboratory near the factory building in which he continued to conduct research in the fields of organic chemistry. In 1858, Perkin discovered the production of aminoacetic acid from bromoacetic acid and ammonia . In 1867 Perkin investigated the reaction of acetic anhydride to aromatic aldehydes. He received unsaturated aromatic acids, this important reaction in organic chemistry is known as the Perkin reaction . Shortly afterwards he obtained coumarin (1868) and cinnamic acid from salicylic acid , benzaldehyde with acetic anhydride . Coumarin was the first important fragrance in coal tar and in 1881, Fougère Royale , the first perfume based on a synthetic fragrance, came onto the market. It was a great success. Cinnamic acid became an important starting material for the first synthesis of indigo .

After Graebe and Liebermann , Perkin also applied for a patent a little later for the production of alizarin from anthracene. In particular, Graebe, Liebermann (Patent 1936, June 25, 1869) and Perkin (Patent 1948, June 26, 1869) filed an application for the production of alizarin from anthraquinone disulfonic acid. In 1870 Perkins factory in Greenford produced 40 tons of alizarin, in 1871 it was already 220 tons. Perkins Factory was the first chemical plant to synthesize alizarin in 1870. In 1874, Perkin sold his factory and retired from business.

Later he investigated the magnetic behavior of substances. His sons William Henry Perkin Jr. , Frederick Mollwo Perkin, and Arthur George Perkin also became chemists.

Offices

William Henry Perkin

Perkin was a member of the Royal Society since 1866 , from 1879 to 1881 and from 1892 to 1894 he was on the board of the Royal Society. He was also a member of the Chemical Society from 1856 , from 1861 to 1862 and from 1868 to 1869 he was its executive committee, from 1869 to 1883 he was secretary and between 1883 and 1885 president. Perkin was President of the Society of Chemical Industry , President of the Society of Dyers and Colourists , President of the Faraday Society between 1884 and 1885 .

Awards

  • 1879 Medal of the Royal Society : Royal Medal
  • 1889 Royal Society : Davy Medal
  • 1888 Chemical Society: Longstaff Medal
  • 1890 Society of Arts: Albert Medal
  • 1892 Institution of Gas Engineers: Birmingham Medal
  • 1898 Society of Chemical Industry: Gold Medal
  • 1906 Society of German Chemists: Hofmann Medal
  • 1906 Société Chimique de France: Lavoisier Medal
  • 1906 Accolade by the king as a Knight Bachelor , from then on he carried the title of nobility "Sir"

The Perkin Medal of the Society of Chemical Industry , of which he was the first recipient, is named after him, as well as the Perkin Prize for Organic Chemistry .

The 1972 to 2002 published Perkin Transactions were also named after him.

literature

  • Simon Garfield and Heinz Kober (translators): Lila. How a color changed the world. Siedler-Verlag, 2001, ISBN 3-88680-719-3 .
  • R. Medola: William Henry Perkin. In: Chemical Reports , Volume 44, 1911, pp. 911-956.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Journal of the Chemical Society . Volume 9, 1857, p. 6.
  2. ^ Journal of the Chemical Society. Volume 16, 1863, p. 207.
  3. ↑ Christian Mähr: Colorful swabs for everyday life . Neue Zürcher Zeitung, accessed on November 7, 2018
  4. ↑ Perkin, Duppa, In: Justus Liebigs Annalen der Chemie . Volume 108, 1858, p. 112.
  5. ^ Journal of the Chemical Society. Volume 20, 1867, p. 585.
  6. ^ Journal of the Chemical Society. Volume 21, 1868, pp. 53, 181.
  7. ↑ Chem. News. Volume 82, 1875, p. 258.
  8. ^ An appreciation of the life and work of Prof. WH Perkin. In: Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry. 49, 1930, pp. 886-889, doi : 10.1002 / jctb.5000494303

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Perkin, William Henry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British chemist and industrialist
DATE OF BIRTH March 12, 1838
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH July 14, 1907
Place of death Sudbury