Novel betaines, processes for the preparation thereof and recovery of underground petroleum therewith

摘要

The reaction of an aminoalkanol of the formula: wherein R1 and R2 are C1-17 aliphatic hydrocarbon groups (the sum of the carbon atoms in R1 + R2 being from 9 to 18); R3 and R4 represent the same or different C1-6 alkyl or alkylol groups; x represents a integer from 2 to 4; and y represents 0 or 1, with a water-soluble halocarboxylic acid provides quaternary ammonium compounds. The compounds are amphoteric surface-active agents which are soluble in water containing high concentrations of NaCl, and are useful in the recovery of underground petroleum by the flooding method.