In accordance with the present invention, a water-soluble lubricating additive having the generic structural formula: ##STR2## wherein R1 is an alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, alkaryl or aralkyl group having from 1 to 34 (preferably 7 to 21) carbon atoms; R2, R3 and R4 are independent alkylene groups having from 2 to 30 (preferably 2 to 8) carbon atoms; x is either 1 or 2; y is either 0 or 1 when x=1 and