Patent ID: 7598215

Claim:
A hydroxyl-containing surfactant compound obtained by reacting one or more epoxides of formula (I) in which R 1 is a branched or unbranched, aromatic or nonaromatic, saturated or unsaturated residue with or without heteroatom substituents and containing 1 to 30 carbon atoms and X is a carboxyl group with at least one hydroxy compound of formula (II) where Y is either OH or NR 8 R 9 , in which R 8 and R 9 independently of one another can be H or branched or unbranched alkyl residues optionally containing one or more hydroxyl groups, or R 8 and R 9 may together form a substituted or unsubstituted 5- or 6-membered ring with or without heteroatoms, or Y is a branched or unbranched, saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon residue with or without heteroatom substituents, with the proviso that in formula (IIa) there are on average ≧1 and in formula (IIb) ≧2 epoxy-reactive hydrogen atoms in the molecule, R 2 and R 3 independently of one another are branched or unbranched, aromatic or nonaromatic residues with or without heteroatom substituents, with or without one or more double and/or triple bonds, with or without (poly)oxyalkylene units, and containing 1 to 30 carbon atoms.