Probing the Impact of the Hydroxide Base Composition on Ethrerification of Cellulose

Conference poster, 2021

Over the years, developing cellulose derivatives has been an active filed of research mainly due to the enhanced processability of these compounds. In this regard, cellulose ethers have been of high commercial importance with a wide spectrum of applications as thickeners, emulsifiers, binders and film formers.
Generally, homogeneous or heterogeneous reaction conditions are applied to afford cellulose ethers. However, etherification under homogeneous conditions lead to equally available hydroxyl groups as well as more control over substitution distribution and thus enhanced product properties.
Recently, in our group quaternary ammonium hydroxides (QAHs) as homogeneous dissolving systems and the role of the counter cation on cellulose dissolution have been investigated. In continuation of our previous work and to shed light upon the impact these QAHs solvents on modification of cellulose by varying the hydroxide composition in presence and absence of NaOH, we aimed at studying allyl cellulose synthesis as an important class of cellulose ethers possessing an active C=C double bond. In-situ IR spectroscopy and in-situ rheology measurements were used to monitor the reactions in real time. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on monitoring the cellulose etherification reaction using in-situ IR spectroscopy. Besides, additional characterisation methods including ATR-FTIR, 1D and 2DNMR have been used to confirm the product formation and assess its properties.