Quirks of dye nomenclature. 4. Fuchsine: four shades of magenta

Abstract

Fuchsine, also called magenta, was the second coal tar dye to be produced after mauveine. Fuchsine is composed of a mixture of up to four triphenylmethane dyes that differ only in the number of substituent methyl groups. Unlike mauveine, fuchsine still is widely used today as a biological stain. We describe the progress of fuchsine from its birth as the second coal tar dye, through a variety of modes of manufacture and industrial application, to its current use. We discuss complexities of nomenclature and identification, and the hazards and risks of its various applications.

Key words::

• aniline
• aniline-crimson
• aniline red
• coal tar
• history
• fuchsine
• magenta
• pararosaniline
• rosaniline

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper.