convert chloride to hypochlorite. Low concentrations of hypochlorite were also found to interact with a microbe's heat shock proteins, stimulating their role as intra-cellular chaperone and causing the bacteria to form into clumps (much like an egg that has been boiled) that will eventually die off. The same study found that low (micromolar) hypochlorite levels induce E. coli and Vibrio cholerae to activate a protective mechanism, although its implications were not clear. In some cases, the base acidity of hypochlorite compromises a bacterium's lipid membrane, a reaction similar to popping a balloon. Industrial and domestic uses Hypochlorites, especially of sodium ("liquid bleach", "Javel water") and calcium ("bleaching powder") are widely used, industrially and domestically, to whiten clothes, lighten hair color and remove stains. They were the first commercial bleaching products, developed soon after that property was discovered in 1785 by French chemist Claude Berthollet. Hypochlorites are also widely used as broad spectrum disinfectants and deodorizers. That application started soon after French chemist Labarraque discovered those properties, around 1820 (still before Pasteur formulated his germ theory of disease). Laboratory uses As oxidizing agents Hypochlorite is the strongest oxidizing agent of the chlorine oxyanions. This can be seen by comparing the standard half cell potentials across the series; the data also shows that the chlorine oxyanions are stronger oxidizers in acidic conditions. Hypochlorite is a sufficiently strong oxidiser to convert Mn(III) to Mn(V) during the Jacobsen epoxidation reaction and to convert to . This oxidising power is what makes them effective bleaching agents and disinfectants. In organic chemistry, hypochlorites can be used to oxidise primary alcohols to carboxylic acids. As chlorinating agents Hypochlorite salts can also serve as chlorinating agents. For example, they convert phenols to chlorophenols. Calcium hypochlorite converts piperidine to N-chloropiperidine. Related oxyanions Chlorine can be the nucleus of oxyanions with oxidation states of −1, +1, +3, +5, or +7. (The element can also assume oxidation state of +4 is seen in the neutral compound chlorine dioxide ClO2). See also Chlorine oxide References Hypochlorites