Patent ID: 7772391

Claim:
A hydroxyl polymer derived from a precursor hydroxyl polymer selected from the group consisting of: polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl alcohol derivatives, polyvinyl alcohol copolymers, starch, starch derivatives, chitosan, chitosan derivatives, cellulose, cellulose derivatives, gums, arabinans, galactans, proteins and mixtures thereof, wherein the hydroxyl polymer comprises an ethersuccinate moiety having the formula: wherein R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are independently selected from H, branched or linear C 1 -C 4 alkyl and mixtures thereof; R 4 is a (CH 2 ) y ; M is independently selected from H, cations and mixtures thereof; x is greater than 0 but less than or equal to 1; y is 0 or 1, wherein the ethersuccinate moiety is covalently bonded to a carbon atom in the hydroxyl polymer.