Use of a novel water-soluble arylating agent to dye wool and wool blends with disperse dyes

A series of water-soluble fibre-reactive arylating agents were synthesised and evaluated from the stand-point of improving fibre coloration with disperse dyes. In particular, the compound, sodio-2,4-dianilino-6-[4'- β -sulphatoethylsulphonylanilino]- s -triazine (FAA 200) was found to be promising; this compound could be applied in the same bath as a disperse dye at pH 5–6. Under the latter conditions this compound showed high substantivity to wool and at the boil readily underwent β -elimination of the sulphate ester residue to give the vinyl sulphone reactive group which adds on to nucleophilic sites in the fibre to form a covalent bond. Coapplication with commercially available disperse dyes gave bright, level dyeings that exhibited promising wet fastness. FAA 200 was used as an auxiliary to dye disperse dyes on both fibre components of a wool–polyester blend fabric; it was found that addition of hydrogen peroxide or sodium thiocyanate was necessary to obviate reduction of certain disperse dyes when dyeing at 120 °C.