Preparation of polymeric acetal carboxylates using organoaluminum compounds

Abstract

The alkali metal, ammonium and alkanol ammonium salts of polymeric acetal carboxylates are stable detergent builders under laundry use conditions but depolymerize in mildly acidic media, making the polymer fragments more readily biodegradable in waste streams. Such polymeric acetal carboxylates can now be made by a process which comprises bringing together in a reaction zone under polymerization conditions an ester of glyoxylic acid and a polymerization initiator, and adding to the resulting polymer an alkyl vinyl ether and an organoaluminum compound to stabilize the resulting polymer against rapid depolymerization in alkaline solution. The preferred alkyl vinyl ether is ethyl vinyl ether, and the preferred organoaluminum compounds are alkyl aluminum halides and trialkyl aluminum.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.