Quinoline
/ˈkwɪnəˌliːn/noun
A colorless aromatic nitrogen-containing compound used as a base for many dyes and pharmaceuticals.
Did you know?Quinoline was named from quinine because early chemists first encountered related compounds while studying the bark of the cinchona tree, the source of the famous anti-malarial alkaloid.
Etymological Timeline
17th Century
Spanish
quina
“Cinchona bark, famed in colonial medicine for treating fevers”
17th Century
Quechua/Spanish
kina
“The native Andean name often cited as the source of the cinchona bark term”
1820s
French
quinoleine
“A chemical name formed from quinine-related studies of coal-tar and alkaloid chemistry”
1830s
German
Chinolin
“The aromatic base isolated and named in early organic chemistry”
Modern English
English
quinoline
“The standard English name for the heterocyclic compound and its derivatives”