A series of triazole-based ligands with hydroxyl groups, 3,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)-1,2,4-triazole (L-1) and N-alkyl(CnH2n+1)-3,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)- 1,2,4-triazole (n = 1 (L-2) 10 (L-3) and 12 (L-4)) were synthesized. Hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl picolinate (PNPP) catalyzed by Cu(II) complexes of these ligands in micelles of a cationic gemini surfactant, 1,2-ethane bis(dimethyldodecylammonium bromide) (12-2-12), were investigated kinetically at 25 degrees C. It was found that Cu(H) complexes of these triazole-based ligands, especially ligands L-3 and L-4, showed effective catalytic activity on the hydrolysis of PNPP. Possible catalytic mechanisms and the effect of molecular structure of the ligands on catalyzed hydrolysis of PNPP were discussed. A binuclear Cu(II) complex was found to be active species in 12-2-12 micelles for catalyzed hydrolysis of PNPP for L-1b, while mononuclear complexes were found for L-2-L-4 due to different structures of the ligands. Kinetic study showed that the apparent first-order rate constant for product fort-nation in the metallomicellar phase (k'(N)), the association constant between the substrate and the binary complex (K-T), and the association constant between the metal ion and the ligand (K-M) increased with an increase in pH value of the system. With an increase in the hydrocarbon chain length of the ligand, k'(N) and K-T increased while K-M decreased at constant pH. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.