Oxidation of xanthate esters of cellulose and of related glucose derivatives.

• Main Author: Muller, Thomas Emery.
• Other Authors: Purves, Clifford B. (Supervisor)
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: McGill University 1964
• Subjects: Chemistry.
• Online Access: http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=116588

Xanthate esters of cellulose have great importance for the cellophane and viscose rayon industries. Routine chemical analyses tell nothing of the way the xanthate groups are distributed along the cellulose molecule, or among the three different kinds of hydroxyl groups in the glucose residues. Information of this kind is needed before the process of "ripening" of viscose can be understood in detail, or the physical properties of rayon or cellophane correlated with those of the viscose from which they are derived. Owing to the instability of cellulose sodium xanthate, most of the chemical methods of carbohydrate chemistry are inadmissible. Hence the sodium xanthate is converted to a more stable ester. If then all the remaining free hydroxyl groups are "blocked" and xanthate ester groups are subsequently removed, the regenerated hydroxyl groups are attached to carbon atoms Which were previously substituted with xanthate groups. Attempts by numerous workers to remove all of the xanthate sulfur from fully substituted starch or cellulose xanthate esters consistently failed to remove a small percentage. Moreover, dexanthation was invariably accompanied by removal of a small percentage of the other "blocking" substituents. [...]