EP0272030A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Bleach activation
Assignee: Solvay Interox Ltd
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Filing: 1987-12-07
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2007-12-07
Abstract
Abstract It is desired to enhance the ability of hydrogen peroxide and persalts at wash temperatures of around 30 to 70°C, in order to use less energy and to minimise damage to various fabric finishes. It has been proposed in the past to use transition metal compounds, including cobaltous compounds for this purpose, but the literature is self-conflicting in the way to do this. In repeat trials the simple cobaltous salts did not show much activation. The invention provides a class of activators for persalts and hydrogen peroxide comprising cobalt III ammine complexes, preferably containing 4 or 5 ammine ligands obeying the formula:- Co[(NH₃) n M m B b T t Q q ] Y y Preferred complexes contain a chloride, bromide, hydroxyl or water ligand. Such complexes can activate particularly well at above about pH10.2, which can vary from complex to complex, and retain activity in the presence of normal concentrations of many heavy duty washing compositions. At wash pHs below that pH, activity is exhibited in the presence of a promoter substance, namely an alkaline earth metal salt.
Inventors
- 👤 Eileen Mary Diakun
- 👤 Christopher Thomas Wright
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 03:00
CPC Classifications
C; C11; C11D; C11D3/00; C11D3/39; C11D3/3902; C11D3/3905; C11D3/3932
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 35
Claim 1
Independent Claim
145 words
1 A low temperature washing or bleaching process employing under alkaline conditions hydrogen peroxide or a material that develops hydrogen peroxide which is activated by a catalytic amount of a cobalt compound characterised in that the cobalt compound employed is selected from water-soluble cobalt III complexes having the formula:- Co[(NH₃) n M m B b T t Q q ] Y y in which n represents an integer from 1 to 6, M represents a monodentate ligand, m an integer from 0 to 5, B a bidentate ligand, b an integer from 0 to 2, T a tridentate ligand, t either 0 or 1, Q a tetradentate ligand, q being either 0 or 1, provided that n + m + 2d + 3t + 4q = 6 and Y represents a water-soluble counterion present in an appropriately selected number y to obtain a charge-balanced salt.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
145 words
1 A low temperature washing or bleaching process employing under alkaline conditions hydrogen peroxide or a material that develops hydrogen peroxide which is activated by a catalytic amount of a cobalt compound characterised in that the cobalt compound employed is selected from water-soluble cobalt III complexes having the formula:- Co[(NH₃) n M m B b T t Q q ] Y y in which n represents an integer from 1 to 6, M represents a monodentate ligand, m an integer from 0 to 5, B a bidentate ligand, b an integer from 0 to 2, T a tridentate ligand, t either 0 or 1, Q a tetradentate ligand, q being either 0 or 1, provided that n + m + 2d + 3t + 4q = 6 and Y represents a water-soluble counterion present in an appropriately selected number y to obtain a charge-balanced salt.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
23 words
2 A process according to claim 1 characterised in that the bleach/wash solution has a pH in the range of pH8 to pH12.5.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
31 words
3 A process according to either preceding claim characterised in that the cobalt complex is present at a concentration selected in the range of from 2 to 50 micromoles per litre.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
35 words
4 A process according to claim 3 characterised in that the cobalt complex is present at a concentration of 4 to 12 micromoles per litre at a pH below the change pH of the complex.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
43 words
5 A process according to any preceding claim characterised in that the bleach/wash solution has a concentration of at least 50 micromoles per litre of an alkaline earth metal salt when it has a pH below the change pH of the cobalt complex.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
29 words
6 A process according to any preceding claim characterised in that the solution contains an alkaline earth metal salt at a concentration of up to 4000 micromoles per litre.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
31 words
7 A process according to any preceding claim characterised in that the solution contains an alkaline earth metal salt selected from calcium salts, and preferably chloride, bromide, nitrate, perchlorate or acetate.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
30 words
8 A process according to any preceding claim characterised in that the cobalt complex is selected from complexes in which the monodentate ligand M is chloride, bromide, hydroxyl or water.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
23 words
9 A process according to any preceding claim characterised in that n in the formula for the complex represents 4, 5, or 6.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
23 words
10 A process according to claim 9 characterised in that in the formula for the complex n is 5 and M is chloride.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
30 words
11 A process according to any preceding claim charcterised in that the solution contains at least 2 millimoles per litre of hydrogen peroxide, introduced as such or developed in situ.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
23 words
12 A process according to claim 11 characterised in that the solution contains from 5 to 50 millimoles per litre of hydrogen peroxide.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
21 words
13 A process according to any preceding claim characterised in that the solution has a temperature of from 30 to 70°C.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
37 words
14 A process according to any of claims 1 to 3 or 5 to 13 characterised in that the solution has a pH above the change pH of the complex and contains one or more calcium-sensitive surfactants.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
17 words
15 A process according to claim 15 characterised in that the surfactant is an alkyl benzene sulphonate.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
36 words
16 A process according to either of claims 14 or 15 characterised in that the solution contains one or more detergent builders selected from alkali metal polyphosphates, orthophosphates and pyrophosphates or zeolites or hydroxycarboxlate complexing builders.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
20 words
17 A process according to any preceding claim characterised in that the solution contains one or more soil anti-redeposition agents.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
25 words
18 A process according to any preceding claim characterised in that the solution contains one or more alkali metal carbonates or silicates and/or calcium-insensitive surfactants.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
23 words
19 A process according to claim 18 characterised in that the calcium-insensitive surfactant is selected from non-ionic surfactants and sulphated or phosphated derivatives.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
50 words
20 An activator composition suitable for addition to and activation of a hydrogen peroxide-containing bleach solution which comprises a mixture of at least 1 part by weight of an alkaline earth metal salt calculated as calcium carbonate per part by weight of the cobalt III complexes described in claim 1.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
34 words
21 A composition according to claim 20 characterised in that the weight ratio of the calculated weight of the alkaline earth metal salt calculated to the cobalt complex weight is not more than 400:1.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
39 words
22 A composition according to claim 20 or 21 characterised in that the weight ratio of the calculated weight of the alkaline earth metal salt calculated to the cobalt complex weight is in the range of 4:1 to 200:1.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
42 words
23 A storable bleach additive composition containing a peroxide in solid form mixed with a metal activator characterised in that the metal activator is a cobalt III complex as described in claim 1, and optionally also containing an alkaline earth metal salt.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
35 words
24 A composition according to claim 23 characterised in that it contains the peroxide (calculated as the weight of hydrogen peroxide) to cobalt complex in a weight ratio in the range of 1:1 to 1200:1
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
35 words
25 A composition according to claim 24 characterised in that it contains the peroxide (calculated as the weight of hydrogen peroxide) to cobalt complex in a weight ratio in the range of 10:1 to 80:1
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
35 words
26 A composition according any of claims 23 to 25 characterised in that they contain an alkaline earth metal salt in a weight ratio to the cobalt complex in the range of 4:1 to 200:1.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
27 words
27 A composition according to any of claims 23 to 26 characterised in that it also contains one or more surfactants and/or one or more detergent builders.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
34 words
28 A composition according to claim 27 characterised in that the surfactant and builder are calcium-insensitive, thereby enabling the composition to be employed at a pH below the change of pH of the complex.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
46 words
29 A composition according to claim 27 characterised in that the builder is selected from alkali metal polyphosphates, pyrophosphates and orthophosphates, alkali metal silicates, alkali metal carbonates, sodium zeolites, and alkali metal citrates, for use at a solution pH above the change pH of the complex.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
28 words
30 A composition according to any of claims 23 to 29 characterised in that the peroxide in solid form represents 5 to 40% by weight of the composition.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
24 words
31 Use of any of the compositions according to any of claims 23 to 30 as a dishwasher composition or for washing hard surfaces.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
16 words
32 A process for washing/bleaching employing a composition according to any of claims 23 to 30.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
28 words
33 A process for washing/bleaching employing a cobalt III complex substantially as described herein and particularly with respect to any novel feature or combination of features describing herein.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
28 words
33 A process for washing/bleaching employing a cobalt III complex substantially as described herein and particularly with respect to any novel feature or combination of features describing herein.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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