William Henry Perkin (William Henry Perkin) was only 18 years old in 1856 when he was busy fiddling with coal tar in his chemistry lab on the top floor.

(Aniline Violet-dyed silk)

from here comes another award: the Perkin Medal (Perkin Medal), which was established in 1906 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the discovery of aniline violet, awarded by the American Chemical Industry Association, and is also regarded as the highest honor in the American chemical industry.

by the way, the chemical structure of aniline violet is actually quite different from the quinine that Perkin originally wanted (see figure below). I can't blame him. After all, at that time, chemists were just beginning to understand the chemical structure of organic matter. Today, organic synthesis has become more refined and controllable, and this "beauty mistake", which is far from the desired result, may not happen again.

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PS: aniline violet is also the first substance written in the monthly molecule column of the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol, and it is indeed a suitable topic to start with. The color of the year in 2018 is also a good-looking purple (though the name is worth complaining about), so start a new year with a purple history.