Anionic surfactants and detergents and cleaning agent containing same

Abstract

An anionic surfactant of general formula (I) in which n and m are, independently of one another, numbers from 0 to 17 and 2<n+m<20, and X+ is a charge-balancing cation. The invention also relates to a production method by way of: the acid-catalysed reaction of 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl) tetrahydrofuran with an alkene having 5 to 22 C atoms in equimolar amounts, at an increased temperature; subsequent sulphation with a sulphating agent; and optional neutralisation by a subsequent reaction with X+OH− or X+2CO2−3, where X+ is an alkali metal cation or a group N+R1R2R3, in which R1, R2 and R3 are, independently of one another, hydrogen, an alkyl group with 1 to 6 C atoms, or a hydroxyalkyl group with 2 to 6 C atoms. Detergents or cleaning agents containing—the surfactant, and the use of same to improve the performance of the detergents or cleaning agents, are also disclosed.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.