Compositions comprising ethoxylated/propoxylated polyalkyleneamine polymers as soil dispersing agents

A method for improving the soil dispersing performance of detergent compositions wherein said improvement comprises adding thereto an effective amount of an ethoxylated/propoxylated polyalkyleneamine polymer of the formula:

• ##STR11## wherein each R.sup.1 is independently C.sub.2 -C.sub.12 alkylene, alkylene, alkenylene, arylene or alkylarylene;
• each R.sup.2 is independently H, a straight, branched or cyclic C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl moiety, phenyl, benzyl, a C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 aroyl or alkanoyl moiety, or the moiety --L--X wherein X is a nonionic group or an anionic group, and L is a hydrophilic chain which contains the polyalkylene moiety [(R.sup.5 O).sub.m' (CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 O).sub.n' -(R.sub.5 O).sub.m" (CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 O).sub.n" 9 , wherein each R.sup.5 is independently H, C.sub.3 -C.sub.4 alkylene or hydroxyalkylene, m'+m"=m, n'+n"=n, wherein m is from 0 to about 4, n is from 0 to about 16;
• provided that at least 0.5 of the R.sup.2 moieties is --L--X;
• w is 1 or 0;
• x+y+z is at least 14;
• and B represents a continuation of this structure by branching;
• wherein said ethoxylated/propoxylated polyalkyleneamine polymer comprises a nitrogen-containing backbone with an average molecular weight of greater than 600 to about 10,0000;
• wherein said polymer has an average ethoxylation/propoxylation of from about 0.5 to about 10 per nitrogen and wherein said ethoxylated/propoxylated polyalkyleneamine polymer comprises a noncharged backbone or a charged backbone having no more than about 2 positive charges for every 40 nitrogen atoms present in the backbone.

A method for dispersing non-polar soils, said method comprising adding to an aqueous medium containing non-polar soils an amount of a dispersing agent composition sufficient to effectively disperse said non-polar soils, said dispersing agent composition comprising at least about 0.1% by weight of composition of an ethoxylated/propoxylated polyalkyleneamine polymer of the formula:

• ##STR12## wherein each R.sup.1 is independently C.sub.2 -C.sub.12 alkylene, alkylene, alkenylene, arylene or alkylarylene;
• each R.sup.2 is independently H, a straight, branched or cyclic C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl moiety, phenyl, benzyl, a C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 aroyl or alkanoyl moiety, or the moiety --L--X wherein X is a nonionic group or an anionic group, and L is a hydrophilic chain which contains the polyalkylene moiety [(R.sup.5 O).sub.m' (CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 O).sub.n' -(R.sub.5 O).sub.m" (CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 O).sub.n" ], wherein each R.sup.5 is independently H, C.sub.3 -C.sub.4 alkylene or hydroxyalkylene, m'+m"=m, n'+n"=n, wherein m is from 0 to about 4, n is from 0 to about 16;
• provided that at least 0.5 of the R.sup.2 moieties is --L--X;
• w is 1 or 0;
• x+y+z is at least 14;
• and B represents a continuation of this structure by branching;
• wherein said ethoxylated/propoxylated polyalkyleneamine polymer comprises a nitrogen-containing backbone with an average molecular weight of greater than 600 to about 10,0000;
• wherein said polymer has an average ethoxylation/propoxylation of from about 0.5 to about 10 per nitrogen and wherein said ethoxylated/propoxylated polyalkyleneamine polymer comprises a noncharged backbone or a charged backbone having no more than about 2 positive charges for every 40 nitrogen atoms present in the backbone.

A laundry detergent composition comprising:

• (a) at least about 1% by weight of a detersive surfactant;
• (b) at least about 1% by weight of a builder;
• and
• (c) at least about 0.1% by weight of a soil dispersing ethoxylated/propoxylated polyalkyleneamine polymer of the formula:
• ##STR13## wherein each R.sup.1 is independently C.sub.2 -C.sub.12 alkylene, alkylene, alkenylene, arylene or alkylarylene;
• each R.sup.2 is independently H, a straight, branched or cyclic C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl moiety, phenyl, benzyl, a C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 aroyl or alkanoyl moiety, or the moiety --L--X wherein X is a nonionic group or an anionic group, and L is a hydrophilic chain which contains the polyalkylene moiety [(R.sup.5 O).sub.m' (CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 O).sub.n' -(R.sub.5 O).sub.m" (CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 O).sub.n" ], wherein each R.sup.5 is independently H, C.sub.3 -C.sub.4 alkylene or hydroxyalkylene, m'+m"=m, n'+n"=n, wherein m is from 0 to about 4, n is from 0 to about 16;
• provided that at least 0.5 of the R.sup.2 moieties is --L--X;
• w is 1 or 0;
• x+y+z is at least 14;
• and B represents a continuation of this structure by branching;
• wherein said ethoxylated/propoxylated polyalkyleneamine polymer comprises a nitrogen-containing backbone with an average molecular weight of greater than 600 to about 10,0000;
• wherein said polymer has an average ethoxylation/propoxylation of from about 0.5 to about 10 per nitrogen and wherein said ethoxylated/propoxylated polyalkyleneamine polymer comprises a noncharged backbone or a charged backbone having no more than about 2 positive charges for every 40 nitrogen atoms present in the backbone.

A laundry detergent composition comprising:

• a) at least about 1% by weight of a detersive surfactant;
• b) at least about 1% by weight of a builder;
• and
• c) at least about 0.1% by weight of a soil dispersing ethoxylated/propoxylated polyalkyleneamine polymer of the formula:
• ##STR14## wherein each R.sup.1 is independently C.sub.2 -C.sub.12 alkylene, alkenylene, arylene or alkylarylene;
• each R.sup.2 is independently H, a straight, branched, or cyclic C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl moiety, phenyl, benzyl, a C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 aroyl or alkanoyl moiety, or the moiety --L--X, wherein X is a nonionic group or an anionic group, and L is a hydrophilic chain which contains the polyalkylene moiety [(R.sup.5 O).sub.m' (CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 O).sub.n' -(R.sup.5 O).sub.m" (CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 O).sub.n" ], wherein each R.sup.5 is independently H, C.sub.3 -C.sub.4 alkylene or hydroxyalkylene, m'+m"=m, n'+n"=n, wherein m is from 0 to about 4, n is from 0 to about 16, m+n is from about 1 to about 16;
• provided that at least 0.5 of the R.sup.2 moieties is --L--X;
• w is 1 or 0;
• x+y+z is at least 14;
• and B represents a continuation of this structure by branching;
• wherein said ethoxylated/propoxylated polyalkyleneamine polymer comprises a nitrogen-containing backbone with an average molecular weight of from about 600 to about 10,000;
• wherein said polymer has an average ethoxylation/propoxylation of from about 0.5 to about 10 per nitrogen;
• and wherein said ethoxylated/propoxylated polyalkyleneamine polymer comprises a noncharged backbone or a charged backbone having no more than about 2 positive charges for every 40 nitrogen atoms present in the backbone.