Dry metal soaps

Cobalt. Without a doubt cobalt 2-ethyIhexanoate [136-52-7] is the most important and most widely used drying metal soap. Cobalt is primarily an oxidation catalyst and as such acts as a surface or top drier. Cobalt is a transition metal which can exist in two valence states. Although it has a red-violet color, when used at the proper concentration it contributes very Httie color to clear varnishes or white pigmented systems. Used alone, it may have a tendency to cause surface wrinkling therefore, to provide uniform drying, cobalt is generally used in combination with other metals, such as manganese, zirconium, lead, calcium, and combinations of these metals. 

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