Patent ID: 7405320

Claim:
A method of preparing a polyalkylene polyamine substituted at one or more nitrogen positions with an alkyl carboxylate group, comprising: reacting a polyalkylene polyamine having a formula NH 2 —R with a molecule having a formula Z-X 1 to form a molecule (I) having a formula Z-NH—R, wherein R is a straight chain or branched alkyl group that has between 1 and 20 carbon atoms and includes one or more nitrogen atoms, Z is a protecting group, and X 1 is a leaving group; reacting molecule (I) with a molecule (II) having a formula: wherein X 2 is a leaving group and A 1 and A 2 are straight chain or branched alkyl groups having between 1 and 12 carbon atoms, to form a molecule (III) having a formula: wherein one or more nitrogen atoms within R are optionally substituted with a molecule having the formula: removing and replacing the protecting group Z; wherein Z is removed and replaced by reacting molecule (III) with H 2 , palladium and glyoxylic acid monohydrate.