Water soluble polymers for detergent compositions

Claim 1

A detergent composition containing a surfactant selected from the group consisting of anionic, nonionic, and cationic surfactants and mixtures thereof and including a water soluble polymer, the water soluble polymer being selected from (a) polymers of acrylic and methacrylic acid esters of an alkyl polyalkylene oxide, alkylpolyalkylene oxide of urethanes or containing alkylpolyalkylene oxide thio end groups, said polymers having the formula A (B).sub.m (C).sub.n (D).sub.o E, (1) A being a group selected from R.sup.b --C(O)--R.sup.a -- and R.sup.c --C(O)NH--R.sup.d --; R a being selected from (C 2 -C 5 )alkylidene and (C 2 -C 5 )alkylidene derivatives including a chain initiator or chain transfer radical; R b being selected from --OQ and R c ; R c having the formula R.sup.1 Z (X.sup.1)a (X.sup.2)b--; R 1 being selected from (C 1 -C 18 )alkyl, (C 1 -C 18 )alkaryl, and (C 1 -C 18 )aralkyl; Z being selected from --O--, --S--, --CO 2 --, --CONR 2 --, and --NR 2 --; X 1 being --CH 2 CH 2 O--; X 2 being --C(CH 3 )HCH 2 O--; a being a positive integer and b being a non-negative integer, the sum of a and b being from 3 to about 100, it being understood that the X 1 and X 2 units can be arranged in any sequence; R 2 being selected from H, (C 1 -C 4 )alkyl, and H(X 1 )d(X 2 ) e --; d and e being nonnegative integers, the sum of d and e being from 1 to about 100; Q being selected from H and the positive ions forming soluble salts with carboxylate anions; R d being a group which includes a carbon-carbon single bond formed during polymerization of the polymer from a polymerizable carbon-carbon double bond; (2) B having the formula ##STR25## R e being a saturated trivalent aliphatic group having from two to five carbon atoms (3) C being selected from ##STR26## R f being a group which includes a carbon-carbon single bond formed during polymerization of the polymer from a polymerizable carbon-carbon double bond; (4) D having the formula ##STR27## wherein G is an organic group excluding Rc and --CO 2 Q; (5) E being a group selected from R.sup.c --R.sup.g --, R.sup.b --C(O)--R.sup.g -- and R.sup.c --C(O)NH--R.sup.d --, R g being selected from (C 2 -C 5 )alkylene and (C 2 -C 5 ) alkylene derivatives including a chain transfer radical; m being a positive integer and n and o being non-negative integers, m being selected such that (B) m comprises from about 20 to percent by weight of the polymer, n being selected such that R c comprises from about 80 to 5 percent by weight of the polymer, o being selected such that (D) o comprises from zero up to about 30 percent by weight of the polymer, the sum of the weight percentages of A, (B) m , (C) n , (D) o and E being 100 percent, it being further understood that the B, C, and D groups can be arranged in any sequence; and the polymer having a number-average molecular weight from about 500 to 50,000; and (b) polymers having the formula L-J, L-- having the formula R c --C(O)(CHR 3 ) c --S--, --J having the formula--(B) m (D) o E, the subscript c being selected from 1, 2, and 3, R 3 being selected from H--, CH 3 --, and C 2 H 5 --, the weight ratio of L to J being from about 1:340 to 7:1, o being selected such the (D) o comprises up to about 40 percent by weight of the polymer, and the sum of m and n being from about 10 to 500.