Studies toward a universal dye for textile fibres

A new organic dye was synthesised as part of an approach to producing a dye that could be applied to any of a variety of widely used fibre types. The dye synthesised is best described as a disperse‐reactive dye and was obtained from a sequence of reactions that used an acid yellow dye as a starting compound. Dichlorotriazine was used as the reactive group in the target dye and the chemical structures of the new dye and its precursors were confirmed using ¹H NMR, mass spectrometry and FTIR analyses. In the neutral form, the dye was suitable for polyester, nylon and wool fibres. When the pH was adjusted to 9 it dyed cotton, albeit in a pastel shade only. By adding N, N‐dimethylethylenediamine to the dyebath, the dye could be applied to acrylic fabric at pH 5. The fastness of the dyed fibres was also evaluated.