Fuchsine (magenta)
Fucsina (magenta)
- Date
- 1859 · confidence high
- Place
- Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
- Credited to
- François-Emmanuel Verguin (Renard frères and Franc)
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
An intense red-violet dye obtained from aniline by oxidation with stannic chloride and patented in 1859. It was the second major synthetic dye, after mauveine, and an immediate success in Lyon's silk industry.
Verguin obtained it in 1858-1859 and the Renards patented it; others (Natanson, Hofmann) found similar reactions earlier or almost simultaneously. Authorship of the dye was disputed in lengthy litigation.
What it led to
- aniline dye industry of Lyon, Basel and Germany
- biological stains and microscopy (basic fuchsin)
- patents and litigation that drove the protection of industrial chemistry