How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World, Book Review Example

Part One, “Invention”, explains how chemist Sir William Henry Perkin, came to invent mauveine, an artificial quinine. Inspired by his mentor August Wilhelm von Hofmann, Perkins attempted to do so by oxidizing aniline using potassium dichromate. The toluidine impurities reacted with the aniline and yielded a black solid. While this initially suggested a failed organic synthesis, Perkins discovered that, after cleaning the flask with alcohol, parts of the solution appeared to have a purple coloration.

William Henry Perkin had several unique experiences that contributed to the development of this useful compound. When Perkin was 13 years of age, his father enrolled him in the City School of London and paid an additional fee to ensure that he would be able to take a chemistry course during his lunch hour. This education was supplemented by the fact that he was provided with a laboratory at home to perform experiments in his free time. Furthermore, young Perkins attended lectures at the Royal Institution given by Michael Faraday. Therefore, when he entered the Royal College of Science in London, Perkin was already an experienced chemist.

Quinine is a medicine derived from the bark of a South American tree and exhibits antimalarial activity. Therefore August Wilhelm von Hofmann believed it would be beneficial to discover a manner in which it could be synthesized in the laboratory. He therefore suggested that Perkin should start with the coal-tar product, allyl toluidine, and oxidize it to form quinine. This reaction formed a black precipitate which he eluted with petroleum and the extraction was repeated using alcohol. He then dissolved this product in boiling water containing a little tartaric acid to find that it behaved as an excellent dye.

Part Two, “Exploitation” explains the practical uses that this newly discovered dye has in the textile industry. The primary success of mauveine was derived from the fact that it operated as an ideal dye for textiles, which was popularized in fashion due to the interest that Queen Victoria took in this coloration. This purple-like color had not been previously incorporated into clothing and Perkin took advantage of this when he set up a dye factory with help from his family. His business was very profitable and allowed him the liberty of continuing chemical studies on his own time.

The additional discoveries that Perkin made during his research career following the discovery of mauveine included finding a way to make coumarin, one of the first synthetic perfume raw materials, and cinnamic acid, a sweetener and self-inhibitor of fungal spores. Furthermore, Perkin carried out much work to uncover other dyes, including a method for the commercial production of the red dye alizarin from anthracene in addition to another red dye known as purpurin.

While Perkin was honored throughout his life due to his genius, he continues to be honored after his death. He was first given the Perkin medal to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of his discovery of mauveine, which is awarded by the American section of the Society of Chemical Industry to honor gifted industrial chemists for their efforts.

Considering my background in organic chemistry, from Organic Chemistry I and II lecture and lab, I believe that this book was written at a level appropriate for me to understand the technical content. Furthermore, the book is idea for any individual who is simply interested in mauveine for its usefulness as a dye rather than its significance to the field of chemistry. Ultimately, the book is written so that it could be well understood by any individual who is interested in the topic, regardless of their ability to grasp organic chemistry. I enjoyed reading Mauve because it provides the full context of Perkin’s discovery, which we don’t frequently have an opportunity to learn in science.

The most significant aspect about Perkin’s discovery of mauve is the importance of developing useful chemical formulas that allow researchers to predict products before conducting experiments. Perkin showed us that there was discrepancy in the prediction of chemical reactions and that useful precipitates can form.  Modern chemistry helps compensate for this gap in knowledge and a majority of chemical reactions are able to accurately predict products as a result.

The following names represent the Perkin Medal winners in each of the following years: 1930 – Herbert H. Dow, 1954 – Roger Adams, 1957 – Glenn T. Seaborg, 1968 – Henry B. Hass, 1975 – Carl Djerassi, 1982 – Herbert C. Brown, 1992 – Edith M. Flanigen, 1997 – Stephanie Kwolek, 2001 –  Rodney H. Banks, 2013 – Bruce Roth. I have selected Edith M. Flanigen’s work for discussion.

• Edith M. Flanigen was a worker for the Union Carbide company where her first job was the identification, purification and extraction of different silicone polymers.
• In 1956, she began working on molecular sieves
• She is well known for the discovery of zeolite Y which is a catalyst in the production of more valuable gasoline
• She was introduced to chemistry during high school
• She attended D’Youville College and studied under Dorothea Fitzgerald
• She received a M.S. in inorganic physical chemistry from Syracuse University
• She was the first female recipient of the Perkin Medal
• After her award winning research, she developed synthetic emerald
• During her career, authored or co-authored over 36 publications, and was awarded at least 109 patents
• She invented more than 200 different synthetic substances

One example of a Hoffman reaction is the Hoffman rearrangement. It is defined as an organic reaction of a primary amide to a primary amine with one fewer carbon atom. The specific equation can be seen below: