Synthetic or artificial dyes are produced from chemical transformations of organic compounds. The first synthetic or artificial dyes were made from aniline, and therefore, they are sometimes referred to as aniline dyes. Aniline is an organic compound derived from coal. However, not all coal derivatives are anilines. Thus, "coal-tar dyes" is a better term to associate with artificial dyes.
Synthetic dyes significantly outnumber natural dyes.
