Aniline dyes

Colors made from coal tar. These are generally considered obsolete because they are not colorfast. This class of dyes was stumbled upon by the English chemist William Henry Perkin in 1856, while he was trying to synthesize the drug quinine from coal tar. Perkins's first aniline dye, deep purple, was known in France as mauveine, from which we have the word mauve ? a huge commercial success.Also see alizarin.