Claims
- 1. In a laundry detergent composition comprising a surfactant and builder, the improvement comprising adding from about 0.1 to about 25 weight percent, based on the total weight of the laundry detergent composition, of a styrene-anhydride copolymer grafted with polyethylene glycol which is prepared by reacting in a solvent styrene monomer selected from the group consisting of styrene, substituted styrene, and mixtures thereof, with an anhydride monomer selected from the group consisting of maleic anhydride, itaconic anhydride, and mixtures thereof, to form a styrene-anhydride copolymer which is reacted with polyethylene glycol having the formula R.sup.1 --(CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 O).sub.m --R.sup.2 -- wherein R.sup.1 is H or NH.sub.2 ; R.sup.2 is selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group having C.sub.1 -C.sub.4, phenol, and OH; and m is from about 2 to about 100, to form a water-soluble or water dispersible styrene-anhydride copolymer grafted with polyethylene glycol.
- 2. In a laundry detergent composition comprising a surfactant and builder, the improvement comprising adding from about 0.1 to about 25 weight percent, based on the total weight of the laundry detergent composition, of a styrene-anhydride copolymer grafted with polyethylene glycol which is prepared by reacting in a solvent styrene monomer selected from the group consisting of styrene, substituted styrene, and mixtures thereof, with an anhydride monomer selected from the group consisting of maleic anhydride, itaconic anhydride, and mixtures thereof, to form a styrene-anhydride copolymer which is alkoxylated to form a water-soluble or water dispersible styrene-anhydride copolymer grafted with polyethylene glycol, wherein the alkoxylation is accomplished using ethylene oxide or a combination of ethylene oxide and an alkyl oxide having 3 to 20 carbon atoms.
- 3. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 2 wherein the alkyl oxide is selected from the group consisting of propylene oxide, butylene oxide, hexylene oxide, and combinations thereof.
- 4. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 1 wherein the styrene-anhydride copolymer grafted with polyethylene glycol comprises a mixture of half esters of styrene-maleic anhydride copolymers and polyethylene glycol.
- 5. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 4 wherein the styrene-anhydride copolymer grafted with polyethylene glycol further comprises at least one unreacted component selected from the group consisting of styrene-maleic anhydride, polyethylene glycol, and styrene-maleic acid.
- 6. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 1 wherein the substituted styrene monomer is selected from the group consisting of 1-vinyl napthalene, 2-vinyl napthalene, 3-methyl styrene, 4-propyl styrene, t-butyl styrene, 4-cyclohexyl styrene, 4-dodecyl styrene, 2-ethyl-4-benzyl styrene, 4-(phenylbutyl) styrene, and mixtures thereof.
- 7. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 1 wherein the anhydride monomer is maleic anhydride.
- 8. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 1 wherein the polyethylene glycol has a weight average molecular weight of about 100 to about 6000.
- 9. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 7 wherein the polyethylene glycol has a weight average molecular weight of about 200 to about 1000.
- 10. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 9 wherein the polyethylene glycol has a weight average molecular weight of about 500 to about 800.
- 11. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 10 wherein the polyethylene glycol is methoxy polyethylene glycol having a weight average molecular weight of about 550 to about 750.
- 12. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 1 wherein R.sup.2 in the formula for the polyethylene glycol is methyl and m is from about 8 to about 20.
- 13. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 1 wherein the styrene-anhydride copolymer grafted with polyethylene glycol is present in an amount of from about 0.5 to about 10 weight percent.
- 14. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 1 wherein the styrene-anhydride copolymer grafted with polyethylene glycol is present in an amount of from about 1 to about 5 weight percent.
- 15. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 1 wherein the styrene-anhydride copolymer is reacted with polyethylene glycol in the presence of a hydrophobe.
- 16. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 15 wherein the hydrophobe is selected from the group consisting of a polysaccharide based surfactant, and a functionalized alcohol alkoxylate having the formula R.sup.3 --(CH.sub.2 CHR.sup.4 O).sub.m --R.sup.5 wherein R.sup.3 is OH or NH.sub.2 ; R.sup.4 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, propyl, and phenyl; R.sup.5 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, and a C.sub.1 -C.sub.20 alkyl, alkaryl, or aryl group; and m is from 0 to about 20.
- 17. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 16 wherein the polysaccharide based surfactant is a alkylpolyglycoside, wherein the alkyl group has C.sub.6 -C.sub.20 and the glycoside has one to ten repeat units.
- 18. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 16 wherein the polysaccharide based surfactant is polyalkylglucamide, wherein the alkyl group has C.sub.6 -C.sub.20 and the glucamide group has one repeat unit.
- 19. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 16 wherein the hydrophobe is selected from the group consisting of a C.sub.6 -C.sub.20 aliphatic alcohol or amine, an alcohol ethoxylate having a C.sub.6 -C.sub.20 alcohol and 6 to 20 moles of ethoxylation, an alkylphenol ethoxylate having a C.sub.6 -C.sub.20 alkyl group and 6 to 10 moles of ethoxylation, and combinations thereof.
- 20. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 19 wherein the hydrophobe is selected from the group consisting of a C.sub.8 -C.sub.12 aliphatic alcohol or amine, an alcohol ethoxylate having a C.sub.12 -C.sub.15 alcohol and 7 to 9 moles of ethoxylation, and an alkylphenol ethoxylate having a C.sub.8 -C.sub.9 alkyl group and 6 to 8 moles of ethoxylation.
- 21. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 15 wherein the styrene-anhydride copolymer grafted with polyethylene glycol further comprises at least one unreacted component selected from the group consisting of styrene-maleic anhydride, polyethylene glycol, styrene-maleic acid, and a hydrophobe.
- 22. The laundry detergent composition according to claim 1 further comprising at least one additive selected from the group consisting of water, ion exchangers, alkalies, anticorrosion materials, antiredeposition materials, antistatic agents, optical brighteners, perfumes, fragrances, dyes, fillers, chelating agents, enzymes, fabric whiteners, brighteners, sudsing control agents, solvents, hydrotropes, bleaching agents, bleach precursors, buffering agents, soil removal agents, soil release agents, fabric softening agent, and opacifiers.
- 23. In a fabric softening composition, the improvement comprising adding 1 to 50 weight percent, based on the total weight of the fabric softening composition, of a styrene-anhydride copolymer grafted with polyethylene glycol which is prepared by reacting in a solvent styrene monomer selected from the group consisting of styrene, substituted styrene, and mixtures thereof, with an anhydride monomer selected from the group consisting of maleic anhydride, itaconic anhydride, and mixtures thereof, to form a styrene-anhydride copolymer which is reacted with polyethylene glycol having the formula R.sup.1 --(CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 O).sub.m --R.sup.2 -- wherein R.sup.1 is OH or NH.sub.2 ; R.sup.2 is selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group having C.sub.1 -C.sub.4, phenol, and H; and m is from about 2 to about 100, to form a water-soluble or water dispersible styrene-anhydride copolymer grafted with polyethylene glycol.
- 24. In an aqueous prespotter composition, the improvement comprising adding 1 to 99 weight percent, based on the total weight of the prespotter composition, of a styrene-anhydride copolymer grafted with polyethylene glycol which is prepared by reacting in a solvent styrene monomer selected from the group consisting of styrene, substituted styrene, and mixtures thereof, with an anhydride monomer selected from the group consisting of maleic anhydride, itaconic anhydride, and mixtures thereof, to form a styrene-anhydride copolymer which is reacted with polyethylene glycol having the formula R.sup.1 --(CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 O).sub.m --R.sup.2 -- wherein R.sup.1 is OH or NH.sub.2 ; R.sup.2 is selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group having C.sub.1 -C.sub.4, phenol, and H; and m is from about 2 to about 100, to form a water-soluble or water dispersible styrene-anhydride copolymer grafted with polyethylene glycol.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/047,032, filed Mar. 24, 1998 now is abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
4176079 |
Guerry et al. |
Nov 1979 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
047032 |
Mar 1998 |
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