Cationic latices as cocatalyst in the cobaltphthalocyanine-catalyzed oxidation of 2-mercaptoethanol

3-Methacrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium chloride (I) homopolymer and I-styrene copolymer were tested as cocatalysts in the autoxidn. of 2-mercaptoethanol to 2,2'-dithiodiethanol in the presence of tetra-Na Co(II) phthalocyaninetetrasulfonate (II). Both polymer systems enhanced the catalytic activity compared with the polymer-free II-contg. system. The systems invariably showed an enzyme-like behavior. However, the stability after successive runs was not quite satisfactory. The obsd. catalytic activities and spectrophotometric measurements indicated that, in addn. to a high surface charge d., flexible polymeric cationic chains of sufficient length were also necessary to enhance the activity of II-bound latex systems in thiol oxidn