Synthetic thickeners incorporating non-reactive diluents

Abstract

The presently disclosed and/or claimed inventive concept(s) relates to a method for preparing a reaction product, comprising (1) molten mixing a first active hydrogen containing component and a first alkali hydroxide to form a first mixture; (2) adding water into the first mixture to dissolve the first molten alkali hydroxide to form a second mixture; (3) reacting a first hydrophobic component with the second mixture to provide a Diluent; (4) molten mixing at least one second active hydrogen containing component, a second alkali hydroxide and the Diluent to form a third mixture; (5) adding water into the third mixture to dissolve the second molten alkali hydroxide to form a fourth mixture; and (6) reacting the fourth mixture with a gem-polyhalide compound or a sulfonate ester for a sufficient time to form the reaction product. Also, disclosed is a water soluble or dispersible composition comprising a diluent and a polymer.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.