NEW AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS USEFUL AS SURFACTANTS

1 . An ionic mono-ammonium compound of formula (I)

wherein

R, which may be the same or different at each occurrence, is a C 5 -C 27 aliphatic group,

Y is a divalent C 1 -C 6 aliphatic group, and

R′, R″ and R″′, which may be the same or different, are hydrogen or a C 1 to C 4 alkyl group.

2 . The compound according to claim 1 wherein R is chosen from C 6 -C 17 alkyl and C 6 -C 17 alkenyl groups.

3 . The compound according to claim 2 wherein R is a C 10 -C 17 group.

4 . The compound according to claim 1 wherein Y is a methylene group.

5 . The compound according to claim 1 wherein R′, R″ and R″′ are methyl.

6 . An electroneutral compound of formula (II)

wherein

R is as defined in claim 1 for the compound of formula (I),

Y is as defined in claim 1 for the compound of formula (I),

R′, R″ and R″′ are as defined in claim 1 for the compound of formula (I), and

W is an anion or an anionic group bearing w negative charges.

7 . The compound according to claim 6 , wherein W is a halide anion and w is 1.

8 . A monohydroxyl-monoester compound useful for the preparation of the compound of formula (I) of claim 1 , said monohydroxyl-monoester compound being a compound of formula (III)

wherein

R, which may be the same or different at each occurrence, is as defined in claim 1 for the compound of formula (I),

Y, which may be the same or different at each occurrence, is as defined in claim 1 for the compound of formula (I),

L is a leaving group and

t is an integer which is at least 1.

9 . The compound according to claim 8 , wherein L is a nucleofuge group chosen from a halogen, a (hydrocarbyloxysulfonyl)oxy group of formula R a —O—SO 2 —O— wherein R a denotes a C 1 -C 20 hydrocarbyl group and an oxysulfonyloxy group of formula − O—SO 2 —O—.

10 . A mixture M Q comprising:

at least one ionic mono-ammonium compound of formula (I) as claimed in claim 1 , and

at least one ionic di-ammonium compound of formula (VII)

wherein

A is a tetravalent linker selected from the group consisting of A-1 to A-6

m, m′, m″ and m″′, which may be the same or different at each occurrence, are 0, 1, 2 or 3,

k, k′ k″, k″′ and k″′, which may be the same or different, are 0, 1, 2 or 3,

Q 1 to Q 4 , which may be identical or different from each other, are selected from the group consisting of R and X,

R, which may be the same or different at each occurrence, is as defined in claim 1 for the compound of formula (I),

X, which may be the same or different at each occurrence, is represented by formula (VIII)

wherein

two and only two of Q 1 to Q 4 are represented by X and two and only two of groups Q 1 to Q 4 are represented by R,

Y is as defined in claim 1 for the compound of formula (I),

R′, R″ and R″′, which may be the same or different at each occurrence, are as defined in claim 1 for the compound of formula (I), and

n and n′, which may be the same or different at each occurrence, are 0 or 1 with the sum of n+n' being 1 or 2.

11 . The mixture according to claim 10 , wherein the ionic di-ammonium compound is of formula (VI)

wherein

R, which may be the same or different at each occurrence, is as defined in claim 1 for the compound of formula (I),

Y, which may be the same or different at each occurrence, is as defined in claim 1 for the compound of formula (I), and

R′, R″ and R″′, which may be the same or different at each occurrence, are as defined in claim 1 for the compound of formula (I).

12 . The mixture according to claim 10 , wherein the ratio w I, VII of the weight of the compound (I) over the combined weight of the compound (I) and the compound (VII) ranges from 10% to 90%.

13 . A mixture M′ Q comprising:

at least one electroneutral compound of formula (II) according to claim 6 and

at least one electroneutral compound of formula (IX)

wherein A and Q 1 to Q 4 , which may be identical or different from each other, are as defined for the ionic di-ammonium compound of formula (VII) comprised in the mixture M Q according to claim 10 ,

and

W is an anion or an anionic group bearing w negative charges.

14 . The mixture according to claim 13 , wherein the ratio wILIx of the weight of the compound (II) over the combined weight of the compound (II) and the compound (IX) ranges from 10% to 90%.

15 . (canceled)

16 . The M′ Q of claim 13 wherein

is the ionic di-ammonium compound of formula (VI) comprised in the mixture M Q according to claim 11 , and

W is an anion or an anionic group bearing w negative charges.

17 . The mixture M′ Q of claim 13 , wherein W is a halide anion and w is 1.

18 . The mixture according to claim 10 , wherein the ratio wIvu of the weight of the compound (I) over the combined weight of the compound (I) and the compound (VII) ranges from 50% to 90%.

19 . The mixture according to claim 13 , wherein the ratio worx of the weight of the compound (II) over the combined weight of the compound (II) and the compound (IX) ranges from 50% to 90%.