This document presents information about the Perkin reaction, which was discovered in the 19th century by English chemist William Henry Perkin. The Perkin reaction is an aldol condensation that converts an aromatic aldehyde and an acid anhydride to an alpha beta unsaturated cinnamic acid. It involves a four step mechanism - abstraction of alpha hydrogen from the acid anhydride, attack of the carbanion on the carbonyl carbon of benzaldehyde, an intramolecular acetyl shift, and loss of the acetate ion to form the unsaturated carboxylic acid product. The Perkin reaction is used to synthesize cinnamic acids, phytoestrogens, stilbenes, and resver