Patent ID: 7067471

Claim:
A process for producing a refined product of a polyoxypropylene fatty acid isopropanolamide surfactant comprising addition reacting a fatty acid monoisopropanolamide represented by the general formula (III): in which formula (III), R 1 represents an alkyl or alkenyl group having 5 to 19 carbon atoms, with propylene oxide in a molar amount of 0.5 to 10 times that of the compound of the formula (III), to product a reaction mixture of a surface active polyoxylproplyene fatty acid isopropanolamide compound of the general formula (I) with, as a side reaction product, an oxazoline compound of the formula (II): in which formulae (I) and (II), R 1 is as defined above, X represents an oxypropylene group and n represents an average number of moles of the addition-reacted X group of 0.5 to 10; mixing water or an aqueous alkaline solution into the reaction mixture, to prepare a refining reaction system; heating the refining reaction system to a temperature of 50 to 100° C. to hydrolyze the oxazoline compound of the general formula (II) and to thereby reduce the content of the oxazoline compound of the general formula (II) in the reaction mixture of 0.1% by mass or less based on the mass of the compound of the formula (I); and collecting the refined product of polyoxypropylene fatty acid isopropanolamide surfactant comprising the compound of the formula (I) from the reaction system.