IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COLORING MATTERS SUITABLE FOR DYEING AND PRINTING
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Chambers Nicholson, of Fenchurch Street,
in the City of London, Manufacturing Chemist, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COLORING MATTERS SUITABLE FOR
DYEING AND PRINTING."
Sealed the 4th March 1864, and dated the 18th November 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Chambers Nichol-
son at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th November 1863.
I, EDWARD CHAMBERS NICHOLSON, of Fenchurch Street, in the City of
London, Manufacturing Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COLORING MATTERS SUITABLE
FOR DYEING AND PRINTING," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
coloring matters suitable for dyeing and printing.
On the 22nd day of May, 1863, a Patent (No. 1291) was granted to
Augustus William Hofmann, F.R.S., Professor of Chemistry, for preparing
violet, blue violet, and red violet coloring matters by the action of the iodides
and bromides of the alcohol radicals on rosaniline. Now I have discovered
that similar coloring matters inay be obtained by the action of the iodides and
bromides of the alcohol radicals (such as the iodides and bromides of ethyl,
methyl, amyl, propyl, and capryl,) on red aniline dyes or salts of rosaniline,
such as the hydrochlorate, acetate, sulphate, arseniate, and oxilate thereof.

page_text: I take one of the various salts of rosaniline found in commerce under the
names of roseine, magenta, and also by other names, and which is usually
prepared from aniline and the homologues thereof. I mix it with the iodides
or bromides of the alcohol radicals, such as iodide of ethyl, methyl, amyl,
propyl, or capryl, or bromides of the same. I employ the substances by
preference in the proportion of one equivalent of the salt of rosaniline to three
equivalents of the salt of the alcohol radical. I then heat the mixture, either
alone or together, with spirit to a temperature of 212° (or it may be somewhat
higher) in a close vessel under pressure. It is convenient to use an iron
boiler provided with a safety valve. I continue the heat until the desired
result is obtained. During the heating the mixture passes through several
phases of coloration, being eventually converted into a violet or blue violet
substance within certain limits. The longer the process is continued the
bluer the mixture will become.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Chambers Nicholson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 18th May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
CHAMBERS NICHOLSON, of Fenchurch Street, in the City of London, Manu-
facturing Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Edward Chambers Nicholson, Her special licence that I, the said
Edward Chambers Nicholson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Edward Chambers Nicholson, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COLORING MATTERS
SUITABLE FOR DYEING AND PRINTING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Edward Chambers Nicholson, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,

page_text: and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Chambers Nicholson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:―
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
coloring matters suitable for dyeing and printing.
On the 22nd of May, 1863, a Patent (No. 1291) was granted to Augustus
William Hofmann, F.R.S., Professor of Chemistry, for preparing violet, blue
violet, and red violet coloring matters by the action of the iodides and bromides
of the alcohol radicals on rosaniline. Now I have discovered that similar
coloring matters may be obtained by the action of the iodides and bromides of
the alcohol radicals (such as the iodides and bromides of ethyl, methyl, amyl,
propyl, and capryl,) on red aniline dyes or salts of rosaniline, such as the
hydrochlorate, acetate, sulphate, arseniate, and oxalate thereof. I take one of
the various salts of rosaniline found in commerce under the names of roseine,
magenta, and also by other names, and which is usually prepared from aniline
and the homologues thereof. I mix it with the iodides or bromides of the
alcohol radicals, such as iodide of ethyl, methyl, amyl, propyl, or capryl, or
bromide of the same. I employ the substances by preference in the proportion
of one equivalent of the salt of rosaniline to three equivalents of the salt of the
alcohol radical. I then heat the mixture, either alone or together, with
spirit to a temperature of 212° (or it may be somewhat higher) in a close
vessel under pressure. It is convenient to use an iron boiler provided with a
safety valve. I continue the heat until the desired result is obtained. During
the heating the mixture passes through several phases of coloration, being
eventually converted into a violet or blue violet substance within certain
limits. The longer the process is continued the bluer the mixture will become.
For the purpose of dyeing and printing the mixture may be used in the
same manner as that in which the aniline colors are employed. The following
is the manner in which I prefer to proceed:-I take 1 part by weight of
roseine or similar red dye, 2 parts by weight of iodide of ethyl, and about
2 parts of strong methylated spirit or alcohol, and I heat these substances
together in a suitable close vessel, either of glass or metal, capable of
sustaining the pressure generated to a temperature by preference of 212°
Fahrenheit for three or four hours, or until the whole of the roseine or red dye
is changed into another coloring substance. I then allow it to cool, and

page_text: dissolve the syrupy mass in methylated spirit or alcohol, which alcoholic
solution may be used for dyeing and printing in the same manner as that in
which other ordinary aniline colors are employed.
Or in order to recover the iodine, which is a somewhat expensive substance,
I take the product, either before or after dissolving it in spirit, and boil it with
an alkali; and I then obtain the base of the color in the insoluble portion,
whilst the iodine is held in solution as a soluble iodide; I then wash the base
free from all salts, and dissolve it together with another acid, such as hydro-
chloric acid, in alcohol, and employ this alcoholic solution in the manner
before described; or in place of hydrochloric acid and alcohol I use acetic
acid and water, and employ this aqueous solution for dyeing or printing.
By this process I produce a coloring matter which dyes silk and wool of a
beautiful violet, blue violet, or red violet tiut.
In place of the iodide of ethyl the iodides of methyl, amyl, propyl, and
capryl, and the bromides of ethyl, methyl, amyl, propyl, and capryl may be
employed, but not so conveniently, as they are more expensive.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the exact details of the process herein-before given; but what I claim is
the production of coloring substances by the action of the iodides and bromides
of alcohol radicals on roseine, magenta, or other salt of rosaniline, as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Chambers Nicholson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
EDWARD CHAMBERS NICHOLSON. (L.S.)