Composition and use

1. A composition comprising:

(i) an anti-microbial agent comprising a linear polymeric biguanide, alone or in combination with at least one other microbiologically active component selected from the group consisting of quaternary ammonium compounds, monoquaternary heterocyclic amine salts, urea derivatives, amino compounds, imidazole derivatives, nitrile compounds, tin compounds or complexes, isothiazolin-3-ones, thiazole derivatives, nitro compounds, iodine compounds, aldehyde release agents, thiones, triazine derivatives, oxazolidine and derivatives thereof, furan and derivatives thereof, carboxylic acids and the salts and esters thereof, phenol and derivatives thereof, sulphone derivatives, imides, thioamides, 2-mercapto-pyridine-N-oxide, azole fungicides, strobilurins, amides, carbamates, pyridine derivatives, compounds with active halogen groups, and organometallic compounds; and

(ii) an amphoteric co-polymer of the Formula (1):

[A] m -[B] n -[C] v -[D] y q   Formula (1)

wherein:

[A] is of Formula (9),

[B] is of Formula (10),

[C] is of Formula (12),

[D] is of Formula (13),

and [X] is of Formula (11),

wherein [A], [B], [C] and [D] may occur in any order;

T is an optionally substituted substitutent selected from the group consisting of CN, OH, F, Cl, Br, —OR 6 , —C(O)R 6 , —OC(O)R 6 , —C(O)OR 6 , —C(O)NR 7 R 8 and aryl, optionally substituted by —OC(O)R 6 , F, Cl, Br, C 1-6 -alkyl, —CH 2 Cl or —C(O)OR 6 , wherein R 6 is a C 1-10 -alkyl optionally substituted by a ketone, ether, epoxide, silane or ketoester group, and wherein R 7 and R 8 are each independently H, C 1-8 -alkyl or C 3-8 -cycloalkyl optionally substituted by —OH, ketone or alkyl ether groups;

L is an optionally substituted linking group represented by a formula selected from the group consisting of

G is an optionally substituted linking group represented by a formula selected from the group consisting of

wherein d is selected from the group consisting of 2, 3, 4 and 5;

Z is an optionally substituted linking group represented by a formula selected from the group consisting of

R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are each independently H, optionally substituted C 1-20 -alkyl or optionally substituted C 3-20 -cycloalkyl;

R 4 and R 5 are each independently H or C 1-4 -alkyl;

q is 15 to 1000;

p is 3 to 50;

J is an optionally substituted hydrocarbyl group;

F is an acidic substitutent;

E is a basic substitutent;

m is 0 to 350;

n is 1 to 75;

v is 1 to 100;

y is 1 to 100;

b is 0, 1 or 2;

s is 0 or 1;

w is 1 to 4; and

wherein [A] is present in the amphoteric co-polymer in an amount of from 0% to 45% by weight and [B] is present in said amphoteric co-polymer in an amount of from 5% to 95% by weight, said amounts being based on the total weight of the amphoteric co-polymer; and

provided that at least one of R 4 and R 5 is H.

2. The composition of claim 1 wherein the linear polymeric biguanide comprises a mixture of polymer chains in which the individual polymer claims excluding the terminating groups contain at least one recurring unit having two biguanide groups of Formula (4):

wherein d and e represent bridging groups which may be the same or different and in which together the total of the number of carbon atoms directly interposed between the pairs of nitrogen atoms linked by d plus the number of carbon atoms directly interposed between the pairs of nitrogen atoms linked by e is more than 9 and less than 17.

3. A formulation comprising:

(i) a linear polymeric biguanide;

(ii) an amphoteric co-polymer; and

(iii) a carrier,

wherein the polymeric biguanide and amphoteric co-polymer are as defined in claim 1 .

4. The formulation of claim 3 wherein the carrier is water or a mixture of water and/or a water miscible organic solvent.

5. The formulation of claim 3 which comprises from 0.01 to 5% by weight polymeric biguanide and from 0.01 to 50% by weight amphoteric co-polymer.

6. The formulation of claim 3 which comprises a pH in the range of from 1 to 12.

7. A method of substantially reducing and sustaining the level of micro-organisms on a surface which comprises contacting the surface with the composition of claim 1 .

8. A method of substantially reducing and sustaining the level of micro-organisms on a surface which comprises contacting the surface with the formulation of claim 3 .