| abstract |
Terephthalate ester copolymer useful as soil release agent in detergent and fabric conditioning compositions and articles. The copolymer has the general formula n Z-[(T-PO) u (T-PEG) v ]-T-Z₁ I nwherein Z and Z₁ are chain terminating moieties having the empirical formula II n (PEG₁-X) a (PO-H) b (PEG-H) c II nwherein PEG and PEG₁ are identical or different poly(oxyethylene)oxy moieties each having a molecular weight in the range from about 300 to about 6000; X is C₁-C₄ alkyl or acyl containing from 1 to 4 carbon atoms in the alkyl moiety; T is a terephthaloyl moiety; PO is oxypropyleneoxy; u is from about 0.5 to about 50; v is from about 0.05 to about 20; a is from about 0.2 to about 0.95; b is from 0 to about 0.8; c is from 0 to about 0.8; and b+c is at least about 0.05; wherein u, v, a, b, c represent the average number of the corresponding units; and wherein the T-PO and T-PEG units are randomly distributed along the terephthalate ester backbone. |