Patent ID: 8901066

Claim:
A mixture comprising a branched polyester, comprising: a sulfonate group, wherein the polyester is obtained by a process comprising reacting components A, B, optionally C, and optionally D, and subsequently reacting with at most 95 mol % hydrogen sulfite, based on an amount of α,β-olefinically unsaturated dicarboxylic acid (A 2 ), the component A is an α,β-olefinically unsaturated dicarboxylic acid (A 2 ), the component B is a di- or higher-functional alcohol (By), the optional component C if present is a di- or higher-functional carboxylic acid (A x ) or hydroxycarboxylic acid (A x B y ) without α,β-olefinically unsaturated bonds, and the optional component D if present is of formula CH 3 (—O—CH 2 —CH 2 ) n —OH, where n is an integer of from 2 to 40, with the proviso that if component B is only difunctional alcohol (B 2 ) without higher-functional alcohol, the component C is present in reacting components A and B and component C is a tri- or higher-functional carboxylic acid (A x ) or tri- or higher-functional hydroxycarboxylic acid (A x B y ) without α,β-olefinically unsaturated bonds wherein said mixture is a cleaner, a rinse, a detergent, or a formulation suitable for water treatment, and wherein a fraction of tri- or higher functional components B and if present C in said mixture with said difunctional components B and if present C is from 70 to 100 mol %.