SIR WILLIAM HENRY PERKIN: BIOGRAPHY AND CONTRIBUTIONS - CHEMISTRY - 2025

Sir William Henry Perkin was a pioneering British chemist who accidentally discovered the first synthetic aniline or coal tar dye. He was born on March 12, 1838 in London, England, into a wealthy family; He died in the small English town of Sudbury on July 14, 1907.

Recognizing the importance of its discovery, Perkin immediately patented it and began its mass production, which turned out to be a complete commercial success. However, the young scientist was not satisfied and continued to experiment in his laboratory to obtain other aniline dyes, as well as artificial essences.

William Henry Perkin's fortune grew rapidly as his discovery was exploited by the British textile industry. This finding not only earned Perkin great prestige as a researcher among the scientific society of the time; Chemical science itself also benefited by acquiring greater respectability.

The invaluable contributions of the English chemist extended into the field of medicine and cosmetology. In both fields, this and other groundbreaking findings generated great impact and solutions.

Perkin was undoubtedly the most notable scientist of the English Victorian era and one of the greatest exponents of the scientific advance stimulated by the Industrial Revolution.

Biography

Sir William Henry Perkin was born in London, England, on March 12, 1838. He grew up in Shadwell, a suburb east of the British capital. He was the youngest of seven children of George Perkin, a wealthy carpenter; and his wife Sarah, a young woman of Scottish descent.

As a child he always had an innate curiosity that led him to be interested in engineering, science, photography and the arts; however, it was ultimately chemistry that caught his interest. His teacher Thomas Hall discovered in him a great talent and vocation for chemistry, for which he encouraged him to deepen in this field.

Along with Hall he attended a series of lectures given by the illustrious physicist-chemist Michael Faraday. The lectures fueled his desire to learn more about chemical processes. It was the year 1853, then he enrolled at the Royal College of Chemistry in London when he was just 15 years old.

At first, Perkin's father did not share his academic inclinations, preferring that he pursue a career in architecture like his older brother. However, his teacher Hall and the boy's wishes to study chemistry prevailed, and the family had to give in.

At the Royal College of Chemistry, William Perkin had the opportunity to study with the eminent German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann, who two years later became his laboratory assistant.

The discovery

One day in the spring of 1856, while attempting to synthesize quinine - used to treat malaria in the English colonies - Perkin made the discovery of his life. Instead of the medicinal compound he was looking for, he obtained a substance that would be used to dye clothes, which would be known as purple aniline.

At that time Hofmann was traveling and Perkin, taking advantage of his absence, wanted to test his idea to oxidize aniline. While trying to clean a dark stain from a beaker, he suddenly observed the reaction of the substance which turned a vivid purple color. It was then that he learned that he had discovered the synthetic dye.

Gosling House Cable Street Laboratory, where a young William Perkin (bottom right) made his great discovery. Unknown author / Public domain / Spudgun67 / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)

The discovery was known as Perkin's mallow (in his honor), purple or purple aniline and malvein. That same year the young chemist managed to obtain a patent for the manufacture of the dye. In 1857 he established a synthetic aniline factory located near Harrow.

At just 18 years old, Perkin began a successful scientific and commercial career that made him very famous in England and immensely wealthy. In 1959 he married Jemina Harriet, daughter of John Lisset, for the first time. From this marriage his first two children were born: William Henry Perkin Jr. and Arthur George Perkin.

The marriage lasted a few years and in 1866 he remarried. From his marriage to Alexandrine Caroline (daughter of Helman Mollwo) his son Frederick Mollwo Perkin and four other daughters were born. Three of his children also became chemists.

Professional development

Perkin obtained the necessary financing to expand its dye plant and improve industrial processes. The artificial purple color until then was obtained at a very high price, since the dyes were made from lichens and mollusks, also from bat guano and Madder root.

Also, the use of this color - which since ancient times had been restricted to royalty and the papacy and cardinals - quickly became popular. At twenty-one, Perkin was already a millionaire. He had managed to create the chemical industry; that is to say, a new type of industry in the midst of the European Industrial Revolution.

With his entrepreneurial spirit and business savvy, he was able to convince the thriving English textile industry to embrace artificial dyes.

To increase demand, he promoted malvein and advised manufacturers on its application in cotton fabrics. At that time the British textile industry was in full swing.

Early withdrawal

Research in this field continued and Perkin produced other synthetic dyes. In 1869 the young chemist managed to produce alizarin (a bright red dye) for commercial sale, but the German company BASF patented this new invention a day before Perkin.

Competition between Perkin's company and German chemical companies (Hoeschst, Bayer, BASF) increased. The Germans became leaders in the chemical industry and Perkin made the decision to sell his company.

He opted for his early retirement in 1874. He was only 36 years old. His factory was bought by Brooke, Simpson, and Spiller. However, he did not completely withdraw because he continued his investigative work until his death.

Place of responsibility of William Perkin. Rzepa at English Wikipedia / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

He died of pneumonia in the old town of Sudbury, near London, on July 14, 1907.

Contributions

For his contributions to chemical science and a lifetime dedicated to work, he received numerous recognitions and high distinctions in Europe and America.

- Sir William Perkin is considered by many the father of the chemical industry. Until then even chemistry had been more closely linked to ancient alchemy and to lesser scientific discoveries.

- In addition to discovering the first artificial purple dye, Perkin developed some other synthetic dyes used by the English textile industry. Based on his research, the production of perfumes was diversified, among them coumarin. This synthetic perfume smelled like fresh hay or vanilla, according to the description made by the authors.

- He carried out various research on other synthetic colorants, development of salicylic alcohol and flavorings.

- He made other dyes, such as aniline black (1863) and the alkaline magenta color (1864), along with violet and green.

- Achieved the improvement and reduction of the cost of production of alizarin (synthesized by the German chemists Carl Graebe and Carl Liebermann).

- Perkin's research and discoveries had a significance beyond the merely decorative of the dyes. These became vital compounds for the medical industry for its various uses: from staining invisible bacteria and microbes to identify bacilli from anthrax, cholera or tuberculosis, to classifying drugs.

- He was a promoter of the cosmetic industry when developing synthetic fragrances. Perkin discovered how to change the structure of organic compounds at the molecular level. This process was called the Perkin synthesis.

- He carried out research on the chemical constitution and its relationship with the rotation of the polarization plane in a magnetic field. Such investigations became a chemical law.

- After having sold his dye business, he continued experimenting in the field of perfumes. He partnered with BF Duppa to conduct research and explore the development of synthetic fragrances. This was another success and another contribution from Perkin to the British and global chemical industry.

- Developed the process for the production of tartaric acid, glycine and racemic acid, as well as the research on the similarities between maleic acids and tartaric acid.

Honors

Sir William Perkin received in 1889 the Davy Medal from the Royal Society and the English government for his contribution to science and industry and his country. To mark the fiftieth anniversary of his discovery, he was knighted in 1906 for his contributions to the United Kingdom.

In 1884 he became an honorary foreign member of the German Chemical Society. In 1906 he won the Hofmann medal, awarded by the same German Chemical Society; and the Lavoisier Medal, awarded by the French Chemical Society.

He received honorary degrees from the Universities of Manchester, Wurzburg, St. Andrews, Oxford, Heidelberg, Leeds, Hopkins, and Columbia.

Perkin Medal

Perkin medal. Science History Institute / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

In 1906, the Society for the Chemical Industry of the United States awarded the Perkin Medal for the first time, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the discovery of mauvine by the British scientist.

The first medal was received by Perkin himself on a visit to the North American country. From 1908 onwards, it was awarded annually to an outstanding chemist for his remarkable professional career.

Some of the winners since then have been Charles M. Hall (1911), Leo H. Baekeland (1916), Irving Langmuir (1928), Glenn T. Seaborg (1957), Carl Djerassi (1975), Stephanie Kwolek (1997) or Ann E. Weber (2017).

References

1. Sir William Henry Perkin: Who was the Victorian chemist who made it possible for Prince to wear purple? Retrieved July 2, 2018 from independent.co.uk
2. William Henry Perkin Biography (1838-1907). Consulted of madehow.com
3. Sir William Henry Perkin. Consulted from britannica.com
4. Who was Sir William Henry Perkin? Google honors British chemist behind purple dye. Consulted from ajc.com
5. Sir William Henry Perkin, the young millionaire chemist to discover the first synthetic dye. Consulted of elpais.com
6. William Perkin. Consulted of es.wikipedia.org
7. Perkin, William Henry. Consulted of encyclopedia.com