Editing BASF (section)

===Aniline dyes (1869)===
[[File:BASF Werk Ludwigshafen 1881.JPG|thumb|BASF plant in Ludwigshafen, 1881]]
The discovery in 1857 by [[William Henry Perkin]] that [[aniline]] could be used to make intense colouring agents had led to the commercial production of synthetic dyes in England from aniline extracted from coal tar. BASF recruited [[Heinrich Caro]], a German chemist with experience of the dyestuff industry in England, to be the first head of research.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.basf.com/en/company/about-us/history/1865-1901.html |title=1865–1901: The Birth of the Chemical Industry and the Era of Dyes |work=BASF |access-date=25 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313045138/https://www.basf.com/en/company/about-us/history/1865-1901.html |archive-date=13 March 2017}}</ref> Caro developed a synthesis for [[alizarin]] (a red dye used for dying textile fabrics) and applied for a British patent on 25 June 1869. Coincidentally, Perkin applied for a virtually identical patent on 26 June 1869, and the two companies came to a mutual commercial agreement about the process.<ref name=Ludewig/>

Further patents were granted for the synthesis of [[methylene blue]] and [[eosin]], and in 1880, research began to try to find a synthetic process for [[indigo dye]], though this was not successfully brought to the market until 1897. In 1901, some 80% of the BASF production was dyestuffs.<ref name=Ludewig/>