Metal ligand containing bleaching compositions

A bleaching composition comprising:

• (a) an oxidatively stable activator having the structure ##STR10## wherein Y.sub.1, Y.sub.3 and Y.sub.4 each represents a bridging group having zero, one, two or three carbon containing nodes for substitution, and Y.sub.2 is a bridging group having at least one carbon containing node for substitution, each said node containing a C(R) or a C(R).sub.2 unit and each R substituent is the same or different from the remaining R substituents and (i) is selected from the group consisting of methyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl, alkenyl, aryl, alkynyl, alkylaryl, halogen, alkoxy, phenoxy, CH.sub.2 CF.sub.3, CF.sub.3 and combinations thereof, or (ii) form a substituted or unsubstituted benzene ring of which two carbon atoms in the ring form nodes in the Y unit, or (iii) together with a paired R substituent bound to the same carbon atom form a cycloalkyl or cycloalkenyl ring, which may include an atom other than carbon;
• M is a transition metal with oxidation states of I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII or VIII or selected from Groups 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the Periodic Table of the Elements;
• and Q is any counterion which would balance the charge of the compound on a stoichiometric basis;
• and
• (b) an amount of a source of an oxidant effective for oxidizing products selected from the group consisting of chromophores, absorbable organic nonaromatic halogen species, and high molecular mass material species.

A bleaching composition comprising:

• (a) an oxidatively stable activator having the structure ##STR11## wherein Y.sub.1, Y.sub.3 and Y.sub.4 each represents a bridging group having zero, one, two or three carbon containing nodes for substitution, and Y.sub.2 is a bridging group having at least one carbon containing node for substitution, each said node containing a C(R) or a C(R).sub.2 unit and each R substituent is the same or different from the remaining R substituents and (i) is selected from the group consisting of methyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl, alkenyl, aryl, alkynyl, alkylaryl, halogen, alkoxy, phenoxy, CH.sub.2 CF.sub.3, CF.sub.3 and combinations thereof, or (ii) form a substituted or unsubstituted benzene ring of which two carbon atoms in the ring form nodes in the Y unit, or (iii) together with a paired R substituent bound to the same carbon atom form a cycloalkyl or cycloalkenyl ring, which may include an atom other than carbon;
• M is a transition metal with oxidation states of I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII or VIII or selected from Groups 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the Periodic Table of the Elements;
• and Q is any counterion which would balance the charge of the compound on a stoichiometric basis;
• and
• (b) an amount of a source of an oxidant effective for oxidizing aromatic organic halogen species selected from the group consisting of chlorinated phenols, dioxins, dibenzoflurans, biphenyls and combinations thereof, or chlorinated lignin degradation products.