Abstract: An amino-ether amphoteric surface-active compound mixture produced by reacting a glycidyl ether having the formula ##STR1## wherein R" is a member selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and methyl; R' is a member selected from the group consisting of aliphatic primary alkyl having from 8 to 22 carbon atoms, aliphatic primary alkenyl having from 12 to 20 carbon atoms and 2-alkylalkanols having from 10 to 36 carbon atoms; and p is an integer from 0 to 3; with a substantial excess of an N-hydroxy-C.sub.2-4 -alkyl-C.sub.2-6 -alkylene diamine, removing the excess diamine, reacting the resulting substituted amino-ether with an excess of an N-alkylating agent selected from the group consisting of halo-C.sub.2-4 -alkanoic acids, halo-C.sub.2-4 -alkane sulfonic acids and halo-C.sub.3-4 -hydroxyalkane sulfonic acids, under alkaline reaction conditions and recovering said amino-ether amphoteric surface-active compound mixture.

Abstract: An improvement in the production of Guerbet alcohols by the condensation of alcohols in the presence of a catalyst and an alkali consisting of utilizing from 0.05 to 3.0 gm per mol of total alcohol of an insoluble lead salt of an oxyacid of a group IV element having a molecular weight greater than 27, such as oxyacids selected from the group consisting of the silicate, the titanate, the zirconate, the germanate and the hafnate, as said catalyst.