Patent ID: 8129324

Claim:
A surfactant compound of formula (I), comprising: R 1 —[OR 2 O—C(O)—R 3 —(O)C—] m —R 4 (I) wherein R 1 is H, a group R 5 (O)C—, or a group R 6 O—[C(O)—R 3 —(O)C]—; each R 2 is independently a C 3 to C 10 hydrocarbyl group including at least 1 substituent free hydroxyl group; each R 3 is independently a C 1 to C 20 ; R 4 is —OH, —OM where M is a salt forming metal, an amine or ammonium group, a group —OROR 6 , or a group —OR 2 O—R 7 ; R 5 is a C 7 to C 21 aliphatic hydrocarbyl group; each R 6 is independently a C 8 to C 22 aliphatic hydrocarbyl group; R 7 is H or a group —C(O)R 5 where R 5 is independently as defined above; and m is from 3 to 20; provided that at least one of R 1 and R 4 is or includes a group including a C 7 to C 21 hydrocarbyl group; wherein: i) the surfactant compound comprises a mono- or di-ester derived from the esterification of a fatty acid or fatty alcohol and an oligoester; i) the oligoester is formed from a dicarboxylic acid and a polyol comprising primary and at least one secondary alcohol; and ii) the mono- or di-ester comprises at least one free hydroxyl group that is at least one said secondary alcohol.