Cellulose dissolved in dimetylformamide containing anhydrous chloral and pyridine was acetylated with acetic anhydride. Chloral groups in the acetylated product (CCA) were found to be converted into formic acid by an alkali treatment. Acetic acid released by saponification of acetyl groups in CCA, therefore, was determined by gas-liquid chromatography. The d. s. of acetyl groups (2.6) coincided with that of chloral.
Acetylation of methyl 4, 6-
O-benzylidene-β-D-glucopyranoside, which was performed in the same way as for the dissolved cellulose, yielded metyl 2, 3-di-
O-(α-acetoxy-β, β, β-trichloroethyl)-4, 6-
O-benzylidene-β-D-glucopyranoside (II).
1H-n. m. r. studies on this compound and the acetate (I) of methyl 4, 6-
O-benzylidene-β-D-glucopyranoside demonstrated that methyl protons of chloral hemiacetal acetates resonate in the lower field than those of acetates linked directly to hydroxyl groups on glucose residues. On the basis of this results on model compounds, analyses of
1H-n. m. r. spectra of CCA and a commercial cellulose acetate led to the conclusion that almost all acetyl groups in CCA are linked to hydroxyl groups of chloral hemiacetals. This conclusion together with the observation of the same d. s. values of acetyl and chloral groups substantiated the following formula for CCA.
Acetylation of alcoholic hydroxyl groups proceeds more readily than that of chloral hemiacetals. Nevertheless, CCA contained few acetyl groups linked directly to hydroxyl groups of cellulose. Almost all hydroxyl groups in cellulose, therefore, must be present in the form of chloral hemiacetal in the chloral-containing solvent.
A study on the distribution of acetyl groups revealed that the reactivity of chloral hemiacetal hydroxyl groups decreased in the order of C-6, C-2 and C-3.
CCA is acid-stable possibly due to the introduction of electron-attracting and bulky acetylated chloral hemiacetal substituents.
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