Michael Seebach

Low-temperature bleaching with manganese-containing heteropolytungstates

Abstract The manganese substituted heteropolytungstates α-[(Mn(H 2 O))SiW 11 O 39 ] 6− ( 1 ), α-[(Mn(H 2 O)) 2 SiW 10 O 38 ] 8− ( 2 ), α-[(Mn(H 2 O)) 3 SiW 9 O 37 ] 10− ( 3 ), β-[(Mn(H 2 O)) 3 SiW 9 O 37 ] 10− ( 4 ), and α-[(Mn(H 2 O)) 3 PW 9 O 37 ] 9− ( 5 ) were applied as catalysts for low-temperature bleaching of stained cotton cloth. The bleaching activity of this series of catalysts is correlated to the fibre-damage induced to cotton cloths during washing as well as to the stability of the catalysts under simulated washing conditions.