Bleach activation

Claim 1

Process for the bleaching and cleaning of substrates employing a bleaching agent selected from the group of peroxy compound bleaches consisting of hydrogen peroxide, hydrogen peroxide-liberating compounds, peroxyacids and their salts, and peroxyacid bleach precursors and mixtures thereof, characterized in that said bleaching agent is activated by a catalytic amount of a transition metal complex of the following general formula: [M.sub.n (L).sub.m X.sub.p ].sup.1 Y.sub.z (I) wherein M is a metal ion selected from the group consisting of Mn, Fe, Co, and Du; X is selected from the group consisting of Cl - , Br - , I - , NO 3 - , CLO 4 - , NCS - , OH - , O 2 2- , O 2 - , HO 2 - , H 2 O 2 , H 2 O, NH 3 , and pyridine; n represents an integer from 1 to 2; m is an integer from 1-5; p is an integer from 0-8; Y is a counter ion, the type of which is independent upon the charge z of the complex; z denotes the charge of the complex and is an integer which can be positive or negative, whereby, if z is positive, Y is a common anion as denoted for X and, if z is negative, Y is a common cation selected from the group consisting of alkali metal, alkaline earth metal and an alkyl ammonium cation; and L is a ligand selected from the group consisting of 2,2-bispyridylamine and 2,2-bispyridylmethane.