Brazilin

Sources of brazilin

Brazilin is obtained from the wood of Paubrasilia echinata, Biancaea sappan (Sappanwood), Caesalpinia violacea, and Haematoxylum brasiletto. The sappanwood is found in India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, the latter being a major supplier of the wood to Europe during the early Middle Ages. Later, discovery of brazilwood (Paubrasilia echinata) in the new world led to its rise in popularity with the dye industry and eventually its over-exploitation. Brazilwood is now classified as an endangered species.

Extraction and preparation

There are many ways to extract and prepare brazilin. A common recipe, developed in the Middle Ages, is to first powder the brazilwood, turning it into sawdust. Then, the powder can be soaked in lye (which produces a deep, purplish red) or a hot solution of alum (which produces an orange-red color), either of which extracts the color better than plain water alone. To the lye extract, alum is added (or to the alum extract, lye) in order to fix the color, which will precipitate from the solution. The precipitate can be dried and powdered, and is a type of lake pigment.

Like many lake pigments, the exact colors produced depends on the pH of the mixture and the fixative used. Aluminium mordants used with brazilin produce the standard red colors while the addition of a tin mordant can be used to create a more vibrant red dye.

An alternative preparation which produces a transparent red color involves soaking the brazilwood powder in glair or a solution of gum arabic. Alum is added to help develop and fix the color, which can then be used as a transparent ink or paint.

As with hematein, brazilin can be used for staining cell nuclei in histological preparations when combined with aluminium. The nuclei are then colored red instead of blue.

Notes

References

• The Merck Index, 12th Edition. 1392
• Thompson, Daniel V. The Materials and Techniques of Medieval Painting, Dover Publications, Inc. New York, NY. 1956.

References

1. Dapson RW, Bain CL. (2015). "Brazilwood, sappanwood, brazilin and the red dye brazilein: from textile dyeing and folk medicine to biological staining and musical instruments.". Biotech Histochem.
2. (2002). "Vibrational spectroscopic study of brazilin and brazilein, the main constituents of brazilwood from Brazil". Vibrational Spectroscopy.
3. Varty, N.. (1998). "''Caesalpinia echinata''".
4. (2018-07-27). "The book on how to make all the colour paints for illuminating books: unravelling a Portuguese Hebrew illuminators' manual". Heritage Science.
5. (2016-09-02). "New insights into brazilwood lake pigments manufacture through the use of historically accurate reconstructions". Studies in Conservation.
6. (1954). "A Study of Certain Natural Dyes II-The Structure of the Metallic Lakes of the Brazilwood and Logwood Colouring Matters". Journal of the Society of Dyers and Colourists.