bleaching compounds?

Question

Why chlorine is a bleach?How can i easily identify which compounds are bleaching.Any tricks?

Answer 1

Chlorine is an oxidant. Most dyes and many pigments get destroyed when oxidized.

In order to recognize which compounds are bleaching, you need to know how strong oxidants they are. There is no easy rule of thumb to identify oxidants, though: frex AgNO3 can act as an oxidant, for instance, by forming elemental silver. Wouldn't bleach indigo, but can destroy warts.

The bleaching effect also depends on concentration. H2O2 is quite aggressive at 25% and fairly lax at 5%.

Etc. You simply need some chemical experience.