Ethyl Corporation

Jeffrey W Perine

Kim R Smith

Joe D Sauer

James E Borland

Terry Crutcher

The rewettability of laundered fabrics, such as cotton fabrics, that are softened by the use of a laundry rinse is improved by using as the laundry rinse a rinse comprising an aqueous solution of a mixture of 20-75% by weight of N-octadecyl-N,N-dimethylamine oxide and 80-25% weight of N-dihydrogenatedtallow-N,N-dimethylammonium chloride as the fabric softener.

Laundry rinse containing N-octadecyl-N,N-dimethylamine oxide and

Quaternary ammonium halides are prepared in solid form by reacting an alkyl or aralkyl halide with ammonia or an amine in a liquefied gas as the solvent.

Preparation of solid quaternary ammonium halides

Surfactant mixtures which have foamability performance and/or cost advantages over the individual components consist of 50-95% by weight of an alkyldimethylbetaine in which the alkyl group contains 8-18 carbons and 50-5% by weight of a fatty acid alkanolamide. Preferred mixtures are those in which the betaine is tetradecyldimethylbetaine and the alkanolamide is cocodiethanolsuperamide.

Binary surfactant mixtures

Surfactant mixtures which have foamability performance and/or cost advantages over the individual components consist of 5-85% by weight of an amine oxide corresponding to the formula RR'R'NO in which R is a primary alkyl group containing 6-24 carbons and R' and R' are independently selected from methyl, ethyl, and 2-hydroxyethyl and 95-15% by weight of an alkylamidopropyldimethylbetaine in which the alkyl group contains 8-18 carbons. Preferred mixtures are those in which the amine oxide is N-tetradecyldimethylamine oxide and the betaine is cocoamidopropyldimethylbetaine.

Surfactant mixtures

Betaines are produced in solid form by reacting a tert-amine with a haloalkanoate salt when the reaction is conducted in a liquefied gas as the solvent. In a preferred embodiment, the tert-amine is an N-alkyldimethylamine, the haloalkanoate is sodium chloroacetate, and the liquefied gas is carbon dioxide.

Process for preparing solid betaines

Betaines are produced in solid form by reacting a tert-amine with an alkyl haloalkanoate and hydrolyzing the resultant quaternary ammonium ester when the tert-amine/alkyl haloalkanoate reaction is conducted in a liquefied gas as the solvent and the hydrolysis is conducted in a liquefied gas solvent or a polar aprotic solvent in which the betaine is substantially insoluble. In a preferred embodiment, the tert-amine is an N-alkyldimethylamine, the haloalkanoate is ethyl chloroacetate, and the liquefied gas is carbon dioxide.

The softness of laundered fabrics, such as cotton fabrics, is improved by drying them in the presence of a laundry dryer sheet containing as the fabric softener a mixture or 50-80% by weight of N-dihydrogenatedtallow-N,N-dimethylammonium chloride and 50-20% by weight of N-octadecyl-N,N-dimethylamine oxide.

Fabric softener for laundry dryer sheet

Betaines are produced in solid form by reacting the corresponding quaternary ammonium ester with a base, such as sodium hydroxide, in a polar aprotic solvent in which the betaine is substantially insoluble, the ester being the product obtained by reacting a tert-amine, such as an N-alkyldimethylamine, with an alkyl haloalkanoate. The haloalkanoate is preferably a compound corresponding to the formula X(CH.sub.2).sub.n COOZ in which X is chloro, bromo, or iodo; Z is an alkyl group containing 1-6 carbons; and n is an integer of 1-6. A preferred solvent for use in the process is 2-butanone.

Betaines are produced in solid form by reacting a tert-amine with a haloalkanoate salt when the reaction is conducted in a polar aprotic solvent in which the betaine is substantially insoluble. In a preferred embodiment, the tert-amine is an N-alkyldimethylamine, the haloalkanoate is sodium chloroacetate, and the solvent is ethyl acetate.

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Baton Rouge, LA, United States of America

Jeffrey W Perine