The man who invented synthetic dyes

威廉姆·亨利·帕金，合成染料的发明者

William Henry Perkin was born on March 12,1838, in London, England. As a boy, Perkin`s curiosity prompted early interests in the arts, sciences, photography, and engineering. But it was a chance stumbling upon a run-down, yet functional, laboratory in his late grandfather's home that solidified the young man`s enthusiasm for chemistry.

威廉姆·亨利·帕金于 1838年3月12日出生在英格兰的伦敦。孩提时期，帕金十足的好奇心就推动起他在人文、科学、摄像和工程方面的兴趣。然而，一次发生在他已故的爷爷家里一间破旧却功能强大的实验室里的偶然事件使这个年轻人在化学方面的热情得到了特别的加强。

在伦敦城学校上学期间，帕金开始沉浸于化学研究。他的天赋和对这个学科的奉献精神被他老师托马斯·哈尔察觉，他鼓励帕金参加著名科学家迈克尔·法拉第在皇家学会所举办的讲座。法拉第的讲座进一步点燃了这位年轻化学家内心的热情，之后，他继续他的化学之路，进入皇家化学学院，而他实现这一成就时年仅15岁（1853年）。

As a student at the City of London School, Perkin became immersed in the study of chemistry. His talent and devotion to the subject were perceived by his teacher, Thomas Hall, who encouraged him to attend a series of lectures given by the eminent scientist Michael Faraday at the Royal Institution. Those speeches fired the young chemist`s enthusiasm further, and he later went on to attend the Royal College of Chemistry, which he succeeded in entering in 1853, at the age of 15.

在帕金被录取时，皇家化学学院的校长是著名的德国化学家奥古斯特·威尔海姆·霍夫曼。帕金在科学上的天赋很快吸引了霍夫曼的注意力，并在两年之内就成为了霍夫曼最年轻的助教。不久之后，帕金取得了将会使他名利双收的科学突破。

当时，奎宁时治疗疟疾的唯一药物手段。这种药是从金鸡纳树（原产地是南美）的树皮中提取出来的。1856年，人们对这种药的需求超出了供货方可以提供的量。所以，当霍夫曼有时对人们对奎宁的化学合成替代品的强烈需求加以评论时，可想而知他的这位明星学员开始着手应对这一挑战了。

At the time of Perkin's enrolment, the Royal College of Chemistry was headed by the noted German chemist August Wilhelm Hofmann. Perkin`s scientific gifts soon caught Hofmann`s attention and, within two years, he became Hofmann`s youngest assistant. Not long after that, Perkin made the scientific breakthrough that would bring him both fame and fortune.

在他1856年的假期期间，帕金在他家族房子的顶层实验室度过了大部分事件。他尝试的是从苯胺中制造奎宁。苯胺的优点是成本低且是一种很容易获取的煤焦油废料中含有的产物。然而，尽管他已做出了最大努力，他最终还是没能提炼出奎宁。取而代之的是，他提取出一种神秘的深黑色泥状物。幸运的是，帕金平日进行的科学训练和他的天性推动他进一步调查了这种物质。他把重铬酸钾和乙醇在实验的不同阶段加入到苯胺中，最终制造出一种深紫色的溶液。他的这一努力应验了著名科学家路易斯·帕斯特的名言：“机会只眷顾有准备的头脑。”，因为他从他这意料之外的发现中看到了潜在的可能。

在历史上，织物染料都是用自然界的原料如植物、动物分泌物等支撑的。这些原料中的某些，如蜗牛的腺体黏液，是很难获取且及其昂贵的。确实，从一只蜗牛中提取出来的紫色物质贵到只有富人们才买的起。此外，天然燃料经常在色度上很含糊，且很快就会褪色。帕金是在这一背景下取得了上述发现的。

At the time, quinine was the only viable medical treatment for malaria. The drug is derived from the bark of the cinchona tree, native to South America, and by 1856 demand for the drug was surpassing the available supply. Thus, when Hofmann made some passing comments about the desirability of a synthetic substitute for quinine, it was unsurprising that his star pupil was moved to take up the challenge.

帕金很快就意识到他的紫色溶液可以被用于给纤维染色，因而使它成为世界上首次出现的化学合成染料。意识到这一突破性发现的重要性，他快马加鞭地申请了专利。不过也许帕金对他的发现的各种反应中最吸引人的还是他敏锐地意识到这汇总新燃料商业价值的可能性。

帕金一开始把他的染料命名为Tyrian Purple，不过这一燃料随后却是以 mauve 为人广知（mauve 一词来自于法语，是指一种能染出紫罗兰色的植物）。他征求了苏格兰的染料作品商人罗伯特·普拉的意见，普拉向他保证，只要能这种染料能实现长久保持性，生产这种染料会稳赚不赔，而且成本相对很低。因此，尽管他的导师霍夫曼强烈反对，他还是离开了学院，投身于为现代化学工业播种浇培的事业中。

During his vacation in 1856,Perkin spent his time in the laboratory on the top floor of his family`s house. He was attempting to manufacture quinine from aniline, an inexpensive and readily available coal tar waste product. Despite his best efforts, however, he did not end up with quinine. Instead, he produced a mysterious dark sludge. Luckily, Perkin`s scientific training and nature prompted him to investigate the substance further. Incorporating potassium dichromate and alcohol into the aniline at various stages of the experimental process, he finally produced a deep purple solution. And, proving the truth of the famous scientist Louis Pasteur's words `chance favours: only the prepared mind, Perkin saw the potential of his unexpected find.

在他爸爸和哥哥的帮助下，帕金在离伦敦不远的地方建立了一个工厂。通过利用廉价且来源丰富的煤焦油（作为伦敦街上煤油灯的副产品，煤焦油几乎取之不尽），1857年，这个染料工厂开始制造世界上第一种合成的染料物质。在法国皇后尤杰尼确定这种新色彩令她凤心大悦后，这家公司取得了巨大的商业飞跃。很快，mauve成为了法国所有时尚女士必备的色彩。为了不被比下去，英国女王维多利亚也穿着mauve长袍出现在了公共场合，这一举动使得mauve在英格兰也成为了流行色。这种染料色彩鲜亮，且不易褪色，大众争相要求出产更多。帕金又回到了制图板上。

虽然帕金此时藉由这第一个发现使他名利双收，这位科学家并没有停下脚步。在他又研发的其他染料中，最值得一提的是他发展并推广的苯胺红（aniline red, 1859）和苯胺黑（aniline black, 1863）。而在19世纪60年代晚期，他发展除了“帕金的绿色”（Perkin's green）。特别值得一说的是帕金发现的这些合成染料其意义远不止是起到装饰作用。这些染料在很多方面对于医学研究也很重要比如说，这些染料被用于给不可见的微生物和细菌着色，这样可以帮助研究人员确定某些杆菌的身份如肺结核杆菌、霍乱杆菌和炭疽杆菌。人造染料直到今天仍然起着重要作用。并且，它们如今的一个作用就是用于寻求对抗疟疾的疫苗，如果帕金知道的话本该会特别为之高兴的吧。

Historically, textile dyes were made from such natural sources as plants and animal excretions. Some of these, such as the glandular mucus of snails, were difficult to obtain and outrageously expensive. Indeed, the purple colour extracted from a snail was once so costly that in society at the time only the rich could afford it. Further, natural dyes tended to be muddy in hue and fade quickly. It was against this backdrop that Perkin`s discovery was made.

Perkin quickly grasped that his purple solution could be used to colour fabric, thus making it the world`s first synthetic dye. Realising the importance of this breakthrough, he lost no time in patenting it. But perhaps the most fascinating of all Perkin`s reactions to his find was his nearly instant recognition that the new dye had commercial possibilities.

Perkin originally named his dye Tyrian Purple, but it later became commonly known as mauve (from the French for the plant used to make the colour violet). He asked advice of Scottish dye works owner Robert Pullar, who assured him that manufacturing the dye would be well worth it if the colour remained fast (i.e. would not fade) and the cost was relatively low. So, over the fierce objections of his mentor Hofmann, he left college to give birth to the modern chemical industry.

With the help of his father and brother, Perkin set up a factory not far from London. Utilising the cheap and plentiful coal tar that was an almost unlimited byproduct of London`s gas street lighting, the dye works began producing the world`s first synthetically dyed material in 1857. The company received a commercial boost from the Empress Eugenie of France, when she decided the new colour flattered her. Very soon, mauve was the necessary shade for all the fashionable ladies in that country. Not to be outdone, England`s Queen Victoria also appeared in public wearing a mauve gown, thus making it all the rage in England as well. The dye was bold and fast, and the public clamoured for more. Perkin went back to the drawing board.

Although Perkin`s fame was achieved and fortune assured by his first discovery, the chemist continued his research. Among other dyes he developed and introduced were aniline red (1859) and aniline black (1863) and, in the late 1860s, Perkin's green. It is important to note that Perkin`s synthetic dye discoveries had outcomes far beyond the merely decorative. The dyes also became vital to medical research in many ways. For instance, they were used to stain previously invisible microbes and bacteria, allowing researchers to identify such bacilli as tuberculosis, cholera, and anthrax. Artificial dyes continue to play a crucial role today. And, in what would have been particularly pleasing to Perkin, their current use is in the search for a vaccine against malaria.