| abstract |
Esterquats (reaction products of a fatty acid source and a trialkanolamine) having a desirable distribution of mono-, di-, and tri-quat esters, such as at least 55 wt. % of the diester and at most 25% of the triester, can be produced by heating a trialkanolamine and a fatty acid source at a temperature ramp rate of 0.4° C. per minute or less. This result can be achieved, for example, by reducing the amount of catalyst to a suboptimal amount for rapid formation of the quat diester. |