Direct Production of Methylaniline on Cotton.

Practical Magazine 17, 1876

(Chemistry applied to the Arts, Manufactures, &c.
Dyeing, Calico Printing, Bleaching, Tanning, and Allied Subjects.)

Methylaniline salts in presence of oxidising agents, such as salts of copper, chlorates, &c., produce Paris violet. These conditions of formation resemble those of aniline black. It might therefore be supposed that violet can be produced by the aniline black formula, aniline being replaced by its derivative. But this is not the case, the violet being destroyed by a further action.

If a solution of neutral chlorate of methylaniline (to 3 or 4 per cent. of the base) or with an excess of base, be printed, a violet colour more or less bright is obtained after an exposure of eight or ten days at a temperature of 86° to 95° F. The addition of one-fourth to a half per cent of red prussiate brings out the colour in two or three days. The solution of chlorate should not be acid, nor the place of exposure too damp. The addition of salts of copper to the chlorate of methylaniline does not give satisfactory results.

The colouring matter obtained directly on the textile fabric does not differ from Paris violet except in brightness of tone. Boiling water takes away the violet and leaves nothing but grey, a secondary product of the re-action.

- Bulletin de la Société Industrielle de Mulhouse