Carboxymethylated wood blocks were prepared by the interaction of wood and chloroacetic acid under some experimental conditions. The most efficient carboxymethylation proceeded at 60°C for the reaction time of 4 hours. After copper sulfate was impregnated into the carboxymethylated and untreated wood blocks, the amount of leached copper in water was determined. Experimental results showed that the carboxymethylated wood blocks had a high copper fixing capacity compared with the untreated wood blocks. The copper fixing wood blocks prepared by carboxymethlation was exposed to attack by various types of fungi. Such wood blocks had a high decay resistance to wood rot fungi and soft rot fungi. Furthermore, such wood blocks were hardly contaminated by mold.

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