Laundry detergents containing soil release polymers
The invention relates to liquid laundry detergent compositions comprising a) one or more polyesters comprising two or more of the repeating structural unit (a1), one or more of the repeating structural unit (a2) and either one or two of the terminal group (a3), wherein G 1 is one or more of (OC n H 2n ) with n being a number of from 2 to 10, R 1 is a C 1-30 alkyl, p is based on a molar average, a number of from 0 to 60, q is based on a molar average, a number of from 0 to 50, whereby the (OC 3 H 6 )— and (OC 2 H 4 )— groups of the terminal group (a3) may be arranged blockwise, alternating, periodically and/or statistically and wherein the connections of the groups (OC 3 H 6 )— and (OC 2 H 4 )— to R 1 — and —NH are free to vary, adjacent structural units (a1) are connected by the structural unit (a2), in the case that only one terminal group (a3) is present in the polymer, the other terminal group is selected from the group consisting of OH, OCH 3 , and G 1 OH, and both terminal groups may only be linked to the structural unit (a1), and b) one or more surfactants. The one or more polyesters of component a) possess advantageous stability in alkaline environments, beneficial solubility and advantageously are clearly soluble in alkaline compositions such as liquid laundry detergent compositions and also possess advantageous soil release properties on fatty and oily stains.
1. A liquid laundry detergent composition comprising
a) 0.1 wt.-% to 10 wt.-%, based on the total weight of the liquid laundry detergent composition, of at least one polyester having an average molecular weight (M w ) from 2,000 to 20,000 g/mol and comprising at least two of the repeating structural unit (a1), at least one of the repeating structural unit (a2) and either one or two of the terminal group (a3)
wherein
G 1 is at least one of (OC 2 H 4 ), (OC 3 H 6 )— or (OC 4 H 8 ),
R 1 is a C 1-4 alkyl,
p is based on a molar average, a number of from 0 to 60,
q is based on a molar average, a number of from 0 to 30,
whereby
the (OC 3 H 6 )- and (OC 2 H 4 )-groups of the terminal group (a3) may be arranged blockwise, alternating, periodically and/or statistically, and wherein the connections of the groups (OC 3 H 6 )— and (OC 2 H 4 )— to R 1 — and —NH are free to vary,
adjacent structural units (a1) are connected by the structural unit (a2),
in the case that only one terminal group (a3) is present in the polymer, the other terminal group is selected from the group consisting of OH, OCH 3 , and G 1 OH, and
both terminal groups may only be linked to the structural unit (a1),
wherein the total amount of repeating structural units (a1) and (a2) and of the terminal group (a3) in the one or more polyesters of component a), based on the total weight of the one or more polyesters of component a), is at least 50 wt.-%, and
b) 5 wt.-% to 65 wt.-%, based on the total weight of the liquid laundry detergent composition, of one or more surfactants.
2. The liquid laundry detergent composition according to claim 1 , wherein R 1 is CH 3 .
3. The liquid laundry detergent composition according to claim 1 , wherein the sum of p and q, based on a molar average, is a number of from 1 to 110.
4. The liquid laundry detergent composition according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one polyester of component a) additionally comprise one or more of the repeating structural unit (a4), which may be indirectly linked to repeating structural units (a1) or other repeating structural units (a4) via the repeating structural unit (a2), or directly linked to a terminal group:
wherein
X + is a counter-ion.
5. The liquid laundry detergent composition according to claim 1 , wherein the average number of repeating structural unit (a1) in the one or more polyesters of component a) is from 2 to 60.
6. The liquid laundry detergent composition according to claim 1 , wherein the total amount of repeating structural units (a1) and (a2) and of the terminal group (a3) in the at least one polyester of component a), based on the total weight of the at least one polyester of component a), is at least 70 wt.-%.
7. The liquid laundry detergent composition according to claim 4 , wherein the amount of repeating structural unit (a4) in the at least one polyester of component a), based on the total weight of the at least one polyester of component a), is at least 0.1 wt.-%.
8. The liquid laundry detergent composition according to claim 1 , wherein the repeating structural units of the at least one polyester of component a) is exclusively selected from the group consisting of repeating structural units (a1) and (a2).
9. The liquid laundry detergent composition according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one polyester of component a) are present in an amount of from 0.2 wt.-% to 5 wt.-% based on the total weight of the liquid laundry detergent composition.
10. The liquid laundry detergent composition according claim 1 , wherein the at least one surfactant of component b) is selected from the group consisting of anionic, nonionic, cationic and zwitterionic surfactants.
11. The liquid laundry detergent composition according to claim 10 , wherein the at least one surfactant of component b) is selected from the group consisting of linear alkyl benzene sulfonates, alkyl ether sulfates, nonionic surfactants, amine oxides and betaines.
12. The liquid laundry detergent compositions according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one surfactant of component b) is present in an amount of from 6 to 60 wt.-% based on the total weight of the liquid laundry detergent composition.