Water-soluble polymers carrying quaternary ammonium groups, their preparation and use

Claim 1

A water-soluble polymer having quaternary ammonium groups, prepared by reacting (a) a low molecular weight alkylating agent with (b) a corresponding polymer carrying tertiary, quaternizable amino groups, wherein (a) is a low molecular weight oxirane of the formula ##STR4## wherein R 6 and R 7 each independently is hydrogen or alkyl of 1 or 2 carbon atoms optionally substituted by hydroxy or chloride or R 6 or R 7 together represent a 1,3-propylene or 1,4-butylene chain forming a five- or six-membered ring with the carbon atoms of the oxirane; (b) is a polymer which is prepared by epoxidizing up to a content of titratable epoxy oxygen of 2-10 weight %, a polymer of 1,3 butadiene monomer having a molecular weight (M n ) of 500-6,000, and prepared from at least 70 mole % of 1,3-butadiene and up to 30 mole % of another copolymerizable 1,3-diolefin or an α-unsaturated monoolefin, aminating the resultant epoxidation product with a primary-tertiary or secondary-tertiary diamine of the formula ##STR5## wherein, R 1 is hydrogen and n is an integer of 2 to 6, R 2 and R 3 each independently is hydrogen of alkyl of 1-4 carbon atoms, ##STR6## represents the same or different chain members, and R 4 and R 5 each independently is straight chain alkyl of 1-4 carbon atoms optionally substituted by hydroxy or alkoxy of 1-4 carbon atoms, excluding the α-position of the alkyl residue as a point of substitution, or R 4 and R 5 together can form a five- or six-membered ring together with the tertiary nitrogen atom; or R 1 is alkyl of 1 or 2 carbon atoms, optionally substituted by hydroxy or alkoxy of 1 or 2 carbon atoms, excluding the α-position of the alkyl residue, n and R 2 through R 5 are as defined above, and when n is 2 and R 2 and R 3 each is hydrogen, then R 1 and R 4 together with the two nitrogen atoms can also form a six-membered ring, up to a content of tertiary, quaternizable amino groups of 0.05-0.5 mole/100 g of the amination product, said groups being located in the side chain and linked to a carbon atom stemming either from the primary chain or from a vinyl group of the polymer via 3-7 chain atoms, and in the quaternization reaction, 0.05-0.5 mole of the tertiary amino groups/100 g of the amination product are quaternized.