His father was botanist and explorer Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius (1794–1868) and his mother was author Franziska von Stengel (1801–1843). In 1872, Martius married Margarete Veit (1853–1926). On 16 February 1903 Martius became, by German King Wilhelm II a nobleman.^[1]

Martius studied chemistry. At university he was member of student organisation Corps Bremensia. He was a student of Justus von Liebig and university assistent August Wilhelm von Hofmann in Berlin.^{[citation needed]}

In 1863, Martius invented in Berlin azo dye Bismarck brown Y, which he named after german chancellor Otto von Bismarck. It is used in histology for staining tissues.^[2] In 1867, Martius invented in Berlin Dinitronaphthol, which was later named after him as Martiusgelb. In Berlin, together with German chemist Paul Mendelssohn Bartholdy he founded in 1867 German company Aktiengesellschaft für Anilinfabrikation (Agfa). Martius was founding member of German organisation Deutsche Chemische Gesellschaft in Berlin and of German organisation Vereins zur Wahrung der Interessen der chemischen Industrie Deutschlands. In 1891, Martius was founding member of German organisation German Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property in Berlin.^[3] From 1916 to 1918 Martius was member of Prussian House of Lords.^{[citation needed]}

• "C.A. von Martius", Gewerblicher Rechtsschutz und Urheberrecht (in German), vol. 25, no. Beiblatt zu Nr. 4, 1920{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
• Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Adeligen Häuser, Teil B 1941, page 356, Verlag Justus Perthes, Gotha 1941.
• Norbert Welsch und Claus Chr. Liebmann, Farben – Natur, Technik, Kunst, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg/Berlin 2003, page 204.
• Acta Borussica Band 10 (1909–1918) (PDF-Datei; 2,74 MB)
• Michael Engel (1990), "Martius, Carl Alexander von", Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 16, Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 312–313; (full text online)

• Hofmann–Martius rearrangement

• Literature by and about Carl Alexander von Martius in the German National Library catalogue
• Literatur list in Online-cataloge by Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin