Patent ID: 8877972

Claim:
A product comprising an alkylene oxide-adducted hydrocarbyl amide having less than 1.5 wt % of amine-by-products produced by the process comprising: a) reacting a C 4 -C 30 fatty acid or fatty acid lower alkyl ester with a mono- or di-hydroxy hydrocarbyl amine to form a hydrocarbyl amide; b) reacting the hydrocarbyl amide with alkylene oxide to form an alkylene oxide-adducted hydrocarbyl amide having amine-by-products; and c) extracting the alkylene oxide-adducted hydrocarbyl amide product with water, acidic water, or water-containing inorganic salts or a combination thereof at a temperature from about 5° C. to 95° C. to yield the alkylene oxide-adducted hydrocarbyl amide having less than 1.5 wt. % of amine-by-products.