Helen Mitchell

As #autumn days get shorter and cooler, deciduous leaves break down their green chlorophyll to let other pigments shine! 🍃💨🍂 Reds and purples from anthocyanins like cyanin and its derivatives such as chysanthemin. These molecules also lend their colors to many species of flowering plants. Their colors are adjusted by modifications to the groups substituted on the molecule. Other reds come from lycopene, familiar as an antioxidant in tomatoes. Many oranges and yellows originate from the same class of molecules called the carotenoids. Xanthophylls like zeaxanthin provide the yellows and beta-carotene gives the oranges (also in carrots and pumpkins). Get out and experience some leaf chemistry today!

Eighteen(!!)-year-old William Henry Perkin, born #OnThisDay in 1838 (Mar 12), accidentally synthesized the first commercial organic synthetic dye while attempting to make quinine from coal tars. #chemistry The procedure for mauveine, its name originating from the French for the mallow flower, was fairly simple. An acidic mixture of aniline, o-toluidine, and p-toluidine are oxidized to a bright purple solution of a mixture of dye molecules. His discovery caused an explosion of new dyes that revolutionized the fashion and synthetic organic chemistry industries. In his honor, two journals and a medal of the Royal Society have been named after him. Follow for more of the human side chemistry and science ⚗️🧐 Painting credit: William Henry Perkin - Pioneer in Synthetic Organic Dyes Jerry Alison