FIG 1 - uploaded by Anthony Travis
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The structure of alizarin as shown became available in 1874 (Baeyer and Caro). It was supported by degradation and synthesis, elemental analysis, and reaction patterns, fitting in with the then recently developed body of theoretical knowledge in aromatic organic chemistry. From: Anthony S. Travis, The Rainbow Makers: The Origins of the Synthetic Dyestuffs Industry in Western Europe (Bethlehem, PA: Lehigh University Press, 1993), p. 175.
Source publication
The synthesis on the laboratory bench of the natural product known as alizarin was achieved in 1868. The subsequent elucidation of its structure was a milestone in the development of chemical theory based on Kekulé's benzene ring and in the growth of the synthetic dyestuff industry. Dye and dyeing properties and theories were exploited for biologic...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... 1868, the red alizarin dye was found to be a dihydroxyanthraquinone. It was synthesized in three steps from the coal tar aromatic hydrocarbon anthracene (Fig. 1). However, at that time only a partial structure could be drawn. The elucidation of the complete structure of alizarin became a leading research topic. The modern structure, showing the location of ring substituents or side chains (attached functional atoms or groups of atoms), was published in 1874 in an article coauthored by the ...
Context 2
... 1868, the red alizarin dye was found to be a dihydroxyanthraquinone. It was synthesized in three steps from the coal tar aromatic hydrocarbon anthracene (Fig. 1). However, at that time only a partial structure could be drawn. The elucidation of the complete structure of alizarin became a leading research topic. The modern structure, showing the location of ring substituents or side chains (attached functional atoms or groups of atoms), was published in 1874 in an article coauthored by the ...
